B    4    IDS    323 


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BETTY  ALDEN 

A  STORY  OP  THE  PILGRIMS  -    £ 


JANE  G.  AUSTIN 


'€**#€»;«**«•; 


38?  Sane  (0.  &ttBtin 

STANDISH     OF     STANDISH.      A    Novel.      i6mo, 

$1.25. 

BETTY   ALDEN.    A  Novel.     i6mo,  $1.25. 
A    NAMELESS    NOBLEMAN.      A   Novel       i6mo, 

$1.25  ;  paper,  50  cents. 
DR.  LE  BARON  AND  HIS  DAUGHTERS.    A  Novel. 

i6mo,  $1.25. 
THE    DESMOND    HUNDRED.      A    Novel.      i6mo, 

$1.00;  paper,  50  cents. 
NANTUCKET  SCRAPS.     Being  the  Experiences  of 

an   Off -Islander   In    Season   and   Out  of   Season. 

i6mo,  $1.50. 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  &  COMPANY, 
BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK. 


r 


BETTY  ALDEN 


THE   FIRST-BORN    DAUGHTER    OF 
THE   PILGRIMS 


BY 


JANE   G.  AUSTIN 

AUTHOR  OF  "STANDISH  OF  STANDISH,''  "A  NAMELESS  NOBLEMAN,"  "; 
LE  BARON  AND  HIS  DAUGHTERS,"  "THE  DESMOND  HUNDRED," 
"NANTUCKET  SCRAPS,"  ETC. 


BOSTON   AND   NEW   YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 


Copyright,  1891 
BY  J^NE  0. 


4  Att'ritjhts'  rkseivedi 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


TO 
MY   DEAR   COUSINS 

MARSTON  AND  MARY  WATSON 

AND  THEIR 


WHERE   BETTY  ALDEN  HAS  BEEN  SO  PLEASANTLY   CRADLED 


i3S  &torp  of  tier  life  anb 

IS  AFFECTIONATELY 
DEDICATED 


PLYMOUTH 

Michaelmas,  1891 


M115403 


PREFACE. 


EVERYBODY  has  sympathized  with  Mr.  Dick  who 
could  not  keep  King  Charles's  head  out  of  his  memo 
rial,  and  I  hope  everybody  will  sympathize  with  me 
who  have  been  unable  to  keep  Betty  Alden  in  this  her 
memorial  so  constantly  as  I  wished  and  she  deserved. 
But  as  the  whole  includes  the  less,  her  story  will  be 
found  threaded  through  that  of  her  people  and  her 
times  in  that  modest  subordination  to  which  the  lives 
of  her  sex  were  trained  in  that  day.  He  who  would 
read  for  himself  the  story  of  this  noble  woman,  the 
first-born  daughter  of  the  Pilgrims,  must  seek  it 
through  ancient  volumes  and  mouldering  records,  until 
at  Little  Compton  in  Rhode  Island  he  finds  upon  her 
gravestone  the  last  affectionate  and  honorable  mention 
of  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  and  Priscilla  Alden, 
and  wife  of  William  Pabodie.  Or  in  lighter  mood,  he 
may  consider  the  rugged  rhyme  tradition  places  in  her 
mouth  upon  the  occasion  of  the  birth  of  her  great  great 
grandchild :  — 

"  Rise  daughter  !     To  thy  daughter  run ! 
Thy  daughter's  daughter  hath  a  son." 

One  word  upon  a  subject  which  has  of  late  been  a 


vi  PREFACE. 

good  deal  discussed,  but  by  no  means  settled,  and  that 
is,  the  burial  place  of  Myles  Standish.  In  the  absence 
of  all  proof  in  any  such  matter,  tradition  becomes  im 
portant,  and  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  determine, 
the  tradition  that  some  of  the  earliest  settlers  were 
buried  in  the  vicinity  of  a  temporary  meeting-house 
upon  Harden  Hill  in  Duxbury  is  more  reliable  than  the 
tradition  that  Standish  was  laid  in  an  old  burying 
ground  at  Hall's  Corner  which  probably  was  not  set 
aside  as  a  burial  place  in  1656,  the  date  of  his  death. 

It  is  matter  of  surprise  and  regret  to  most  persons 
that  the  Pilgrims  took  so  little  pains  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  their  graves,  and  their  doing  so  would  have 
been  a  wonderful  aid  to  those  who  would  read  the 
palimpsest  of  the  past.  But  a  little  recollection  dimin 
ishes  the  wonder,  if  not  the  regret.  Practically,  the 
Pilgrims  had  neither  the  money  wherewith  to  import 
gravestones,  nor  the  skill  to  fashion  and  sculpture 
them  ;  ethically,  their  lives  were  fashioned  after  an 
ideal,  and  that  ideal  was  Protestantism  in  its  most 
primitive  intention,  a  protest  against  Rome,  her  creeds 
and  her  usages ;  prayers  for  the  dead  were  to  them  a 
horrible  superstition  ;  Purgatory  a  mere  invention  of  the 
powers  of  hell ;  an  appeal  to  saints,  angels,  or  the  spirits 
of  the  departed  was  a  direct  insult  to  the  Divine  Su 
premacy.  The  instant  the  soul  left  the  body  Protest 
antism  decreed  that  it  was  not  only  useless  but  profane 
to  follow  it  with  prayers  (much  less  masses),  or  with  any 
other  remembrance  which  might  be  construed  as  intrud- 


P BE  FACE.  vii 

• 

ing  upon  "  the  counsels  of  the  Almighty,"  so  that  while 
private  grief  was  sternly  rebuked  as  rebellion  against 
the  chastisements  of  a  just  and  offended  God,  every 
form  of  funeral  service,  domestic  or  congregational,  was 
set  aside  as  superstitious  and  dangerous. 

The  only  exceptions  to  this  rule  were  the  volleys  of 
musketry  fired  over  the  graves  of  certain  of  the  lead 
ers,  as  Carver,  Standish,  Bradford,  and  a  few  others, 
but  these  stern  military  honors  were  unaccompanied  by 
even  the  prayer  of  a  chaplain. 

It  was  perhaps  not  altogether  from  fear  of  the  In 
dians  that  the  fifty  of  the  Mayflower  Pilgrims  who 
were  left  alive  that  first  spring  smoothed  the  graves  of 
the  fifty  who  were  gone,  and  planted  them  to  corn ;  pos 
sibly  they  also  feared  their  own  hearts,  sorely  tempted 
by  nature  to  cherish  and  adorn  those  barren  graves 
where  so  much  love  and  hope  lay  buried ;  and  any  step 
in  that  direction  was  a  step  backward  from  that  "  city  " 
they  had  crossed  the  seas  to  seek  in  the  wilderness. 

It  is  I  think  certain  that  not  one  of  the  original  Pil 
grim  graves  was  marked  by  any  sort  of  monument.  The 
few  we  now  delight  to  honor  were  identified  by  those 
of  their  children  to  whom  the  third  generation  erected 
tablets.  A  few  persons,  of  loving  and  unbigoted  hearts, 
begged  to  be  buried  beside  their  departed  friends,  and 
Standish  in  his  last  will  allowed  a  sunset  gleam  of  his 
tender  nature  to  shine  out  when  he  asked  to  be  laid  as 
near  as  conveniently  might  be  to  his  two  dear  daugh 
ters  ;  but  neither  he  nor  any  of  the  others  who  made 


viii  PREFACE. 

this  testamentary  petition  mentioned  where  the  graves 
were,  beside  which  they  fain  would  lie,  nor  in  any  one 
instance  have  they  been  positively  identified.  That  of 
Elder  Brewster,  concerning  whose  burial  we  have  many 
particulars,  is  altogether  unknown,  except  that  it  seems 
to  have  been  made  upon  Burying  Hill.  Perhaps  that 
of  Standish  is  there  also,  for  when  he  says,  —  "If  I  die 
at  Duxburrow  I  should  like,"  etc.,  he  may  mean  that 
if  he  dies  in  Duxbury  he  would  fain  be  carried  to 
Plymouth,  there  to  lie  beside  his  daughters  and  very 
likely  his  two  little  sons  as  well. 

But  to  me  it  seems  a  small  matter,  this  question  of 
the  grave  of  Standish.  He  lived  to  be  old  and  very 
infirm,  and  neither  his  old  age,  his  infirmities,  nor  his 
final  surrender  to  death  are  any  part  of  his  memory. 
For  me,  he  stands  forever  as  he  stood  in  his  glorious 
prime  among  the  people  he  so  unselfishly  championed, 
a  tower  of  strength,  courage,  and  endurance,  the  shin 
ing  survival  of  chivalry,  the  gallant  paladin  whose  coat- 
armor  gleams  amid  the  throng  of  russet  jerkins  and 
mantles  of  hodden  gray,  like  the  dash  of  color  with 
which  Turner  accents  his  wastes  of  sombre  water  and 
sky.  So  let  him  stand,  so  let  us  look  upon  him,  and 
honor  him  and  glory  in  him,  nor  seek  to  draw  the  veil 
with  which  Time  mercifully  hides  the  only  defeat  our 
hero  ever  knew,  that  last  fatal  battle  when  age,  and 
"  dolorous  pain,"  and  fell  disease,  conquered  the  in 
vincible,  and  restored  to  earth  all  that  was  mortal  of 
a  magnificent  immortality.  We  cannot  erect  a  monn- 


PREFACE.  ix 

ment  over  that  forgotten  grave,  but  in  some  coming 
day  let  us  hope  that  the  descendants  of  the  soldier  Pil 
grim  will  possess  themselves  of  the  little  peninsula 
where  the  site  of  his  home  may  still  be  traced,  and 
there  place  some  memorial  stone  to  tell  that  on  this 
fairest  spot  of  fair  Duxbury's  shore  lived  and  died  the 
man  who  gave  Duxbury  her  name,  and  bequeathed  to 
us  an  inheritance  far  richer  than  that  which  was  "  sur 
reptitiously  detained  "  from  him. 
BOSTON,  October,  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.   A  WHISPER  IN  THE  EAR          ....  1 

II.  A  SHARP  PAIR  OF  SCISSORS     ....  10 

III.  TREASON .        .17 

IV.  THOU  ART  THE  MAN  ! *24 

V.   How  MISTRESS  ALICE  BRADFORD  INTRODUCED 

HER  SISTER  PRISCILLA  CARPENTER  TO  PLY 
MOUTH  SOCIETY       .        .        .        .        .        .39 

VI.   A  VIPER  SCOTCHED,  NOT  KILLED    ...  56 

VII.   MORTON  OF  MERRY  MOUNT      ....  68 

VIII.  STANDISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT   ....  74 

IX.    THE  KYLOE  Cow 93 

X.   THE  UNEXPECTED 102 

XL   GOVERNOR  BRADFORD  PAYS  A  VISIT       .        .111 

XII.   SIR  CHRISTOPHER  GARDINER   ....  121 

XIII.  ONE!  Two!  THREE!    FIRE!    ....  129 

XIV.  SIR  CHRISTOPHER  ENJOYS  THE  CHASE    .        .  137 
XV.  AND  DESCRIBES  IT    .        .        .        .        .        .  145 

XVI.  A  MILLSTONE  FOR  SIR  CHRISTOPHER      .        .  159 

XVII.   "Two  is  COMPANY,  THREE  is  TRUMPERY"  .  171 

XVIII.   THE  LITTLE  BOOK 182 

XIX.   A  MUCH-MARRIED  MAN    .        .        ,        .        .  180 

XX.   BETTY'S  JOURNEY  AND  THE  GARRETT  WRECK  196 

XXL    "  AH,  BROTHER  OLDHAME,  is  IT  THOU  !  "      .  208 

XXII.  THE  MOONLIGHT  AND  THE  DAWN   .        .        .  223 

XXIII.  "  LOREA  STANDISH  is  MY  NAME  "   .        .        .  233 

XXIV.  AVERY'S  FALL  AND  THACHER'S  WOE      .        .  240 
XXV.  JEPHTHAH'S  DAUGHTER 251 

XXVI.   GILLIAN      .        .        ...        .        .        .  265 

XXVII.   DONNA  MABIA  DE  LOS  DOLORES      .        .        .  275 

XXVIII.   A  SALT-FISH  DINNER       ...                ,  286 


xii  CONTENTS. 


Too  LATE!  Too  LATE!    .....    295 
XXX.  PEEPING  TOM  AND  HIS  BROTHER    .        .        .    304 
XXXI.  JENNEY'S  MILL  BY  MOONLIGHT       .        .        .    315 
XXXII.  ROBED  IN  WHITE  SAMITE        .        .        .        .326 

XXXIII.  A  BOLD  BUCCANEER         .....    341 

XXXIV.  THE  HILT  OF  A  RAPIER  .....    356 
XXXV.  CANARY  WINE  AND  SEED-CAKE       .        .        .363 

XXXVI.   BETTY  BEARDS  THE  LION        ....    372 
XXXVII.    "MARY  STANDISH,  MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER-IN- 

LAW"     ........    379 


o         w  >      *   • 

•*  j  •      3  01 


BETTY  ALDEN. 

CHAPTER  I. 

A  WHISPER   IN  THE   EAR. 

"TELL  him  yourself,  Pris." 

"No,  no,  Bab,  I  know  too  much  for  that!  These 
men  love  not  to  be  taught  by  a  woman,  although,  if  all 
were  known,  full  many  a  whisper  in  the  bedchamber 
comes  out  next  day  at  the  council  board,  and  one  grave 
master  says  to  another,  '  Now  look  you,  tell  it  not  to  the 
women  lest  they  blab  it ! '  never  mistrusting  in  his  owl- 
head  that  a  woman  set  the  whole  matter  afloat." 

"  Oh,  Pris,  you  do  love  to  jibe  at  the  men.  How  did 
you  ever  persuade  yourself  to  marry  one  of  them  ?  " 

"Why,  so  that  one  of  them  might  be  guided  into 
some  sort  of  discretion.  Does  n't  John  Alden  show  as 
a  bright  example  to  his  fellows  ?  " 

"  And  all  through  his  wife's  training,  eh,  Pris  ?  " 

"  Why,  surely.  Didst  doubt  such  a  patent  fact,  Mis 
tress  Standish  ?  " 

"  But  now,  Pris,  in  sober  sadness  tell  me  what  has 
given  you  such  dark  suspicions  of  these  new-comers,  and 
how  do  you  venture  to  whisper  <  treason  '  and  '  traitor  ' 
about  a  man  who  has  been  anointed  God's  messenger, 


2    \  /  J   J/;  :  BETTY  ALDEN. 

even r though,  it,  hast  been   in   the   papistical  Church  of 

England:?;;:///  ; 

"  If  the  Englisn  bishops  are  such  servants  of  anti 
christ  as  the  governor  and  the  Elder  make  them  out, 
I  should  conceive  that  their  anointing  would  be  rather 
against  a  man's  character  than  a  warrant  for  it."  And 
Priscilla  Alden  laughed  saucily  into  the  thoughtful  face 
of  her  friend  and  neighbor,  Barbara  Standish,  who, 
knitting  busily  at  a  little  lamb's-wool  stocking,  shook 
her  head  as  she  replied,  — 

"  Mr.  Lyford  is  not  a  man  to  my  taste,  and  I  care 
not  to  hear  him  preach,  but  yet,  we  are  told  in  Holy 
Writ  not  to  speak  evil  of  dignitaries,  nor  to  rail  against 
those  set  over  us  "  — 

"  Then  surely  it  is  contrary  to  Holy  Writ  for  this 
Master  Lyford  to  speak  evil  of  the  governor  and  to 
rail  against  the  captain,  as  he  doth  continually  "  — 

"  Who  rails  against  the  captain,  Mistress  Alden  ?  " 
demanded  a  cheerful  voice,  as  Myles  Standish  entered 
at  the  open  door  of  his  house,  and,  removing  the  broad- 
leafed  hat  picturesquely  pulled  over  his  brow,  revealed 
temples  worn  bare  of  the  rust-colored  locks  still  cluster 
ing  thickly  upon  the  rest  of  his  head,  and  matching  in 
color  the  close,  pointed  beard  and  the  heavy  brows,  be 
neath  which  the  resolute  and  piercing  eyes  his  enemies 
learned  to  dread  in  early  days  now  shone  with  a  genial 
smile. 

"  Who  has  been  abusing  the  captain  ?  "  repeated  he, 
as  the  women  laughed  in  some  confusion,  looking  at 
each  other  for  an  answer.  Priscilla  was  the  first  to  find 
it,  and  glancing  frankly  into  the  face  of  the  man  she 
might  once  have  loved  replied,  — 

"Why,  'tis  I  that  am  trying  to  stir  Barbara   into 


A    WHISPER  IN  THE  EAR.  3 

showing  you  what  a  nest  of  adders  we  are  nourishing 
here  in  Plymouth,  and  moving  you  and  the  governor  to 
set  your  heels  upon  them  before  it  be  too  late." 

As  she  spoke,  the  merry  gleam  died  out  of  the  cap 
tain's  eyes,  and  grasping  his  beard  in  the  left  hand,  as 
was  his  wont  in  perplexity,  he  said  gravely,  — 

"These  are  large  matters  for  a  woman's  handling, 
Priscilla,  and  it  may  chance  that  Barbara's  silence  is 
the  better  part  of  your  valor.  But  still,  —  what  do  you 
mean  ?  " 

"  I  mean  that  Master  Oldhame  and  Master  Lyford  as 
the  head,  and  their  followers  and  creatures  as  the  tail, 
are  maturing  into  a  very  pretty  monster  here  in  our 
midst,  which  if  let  alone  will  some  fine  ^rning  swallow 
the  colony  for  its  breakfast,  and  if  only  it  would  be  con 
tent  with  the  men  I  would  say  grace  for  it,  but,  unfor 
tunately,  the  women  and  children  are  the  tender  bits, 
and  will  serve  as  a  relish  to  the  coarser  meat." 

"  Come,  now,  Priscilla,  a  truce  to  your  quips  and 
jibes,  and  tell  me  what  there  is  to  tell.  I  cry  you  par 
don  for  noting  your  forwardness  in  what  concerned  you 
not  "  — 

"  Nay,  Myles,  you  've  said  it  now,"  interposed  Bar 
bara,  with  a  little  laugh,  while  Priscilla,  gathering  her 
work  in  her  apron,  and  looking  very  pretty  with  her 
flaming  cheeks  and  sparkling  eyes,  jumped  up  saying,  — 

"  At  all  events,  John  Alden's  dinner  concerns  both 
him  and  me,  and  I  will  go  and  make  it  ready ;  a  nod  is 
as  good  as  a  wink  to  a  blind  horse,  and  a  penny  pipe 
as  well  as  a  trumpet  to  warn  a  deaf  man  that  the  enemy 
is  upon  him.  Put  your  nose  in  the  air,  Captain  Stan- 
dish,  and  march  stoutly  on  into  the  pitfall  dug  for  your 
feet." 


4  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Come,  come,  Mistress  Alden  !  These  are  no  words 
for  a  gentlewoman,"  began  the  captain  angrily,  but  on 
the  threshold  Priscilla  turned,  a  saucy  laugh  flashing 
through  the  anger  of  her  face,  and  reminding  the  cap 
tain  in  his  own  despite  of  a  sudden  sunbeam  glinting 
across  dark  Manomet  in  the  midst  of  a  thunder-storm. 

u  Here  'a  the  governor  coming  up  the  hill,  Myles," 
whispered  she,  "and  you  may  finish  the  rest  of  your 
scolding  to  him.  I  'm  frighted  as  much  as  is  safe  for 
me  a'ready." 

And  light  as  a  bird  she  ran  down  the  hill  just  as  Brad 
ford  reached  the  door  and,  glancing  in,  said  in  his  sono 
rous  and  benevolent  voice,  "  Good-morrow  to  you,  Mis 
tress  Standish.^I  am  sorry  to  have  frighted  away  your 
merry  gossip,  but  I  am  seeking  the  goodman  —  Ah, 
there  you  are,  Captain  !  I  would  have  a  word  with  you 
at  your  leisure." 

"  Shall  I  run  after  Priscilla,  Myles  ?  "  asked  Bar 
bara,  cordially  returning  the  governor's  greeting. 

"  Nay,  wife,  we  two  will  walk  up  to  the  Fort,"  re 
plied  Standish,  and  replacing  his  hat,  he  led  the  way  up 
the  hill  to  the  Fort,  where  he  ushered  his  friend  into 
a  little  room  contrived  in  the  southeastern  angle  for  his 
private  use :  his  office,  his  study,  his  den,  or  his  growl- 
ery  by  turns,  for  here  was  his  little  stock  of  books,  his 
writing-table  and  official  records  ;  here  his  pipes  and  to 
bacco  ;  a  stand  of  private  arms  crowned  by  Gideon ;  the 
colony's  telescope  fashioned  by  Galileo  ;  and  here  a  deep 
leathern  chair  with  a  bench  nigh  at  hand,  where  through 
many  a  silent  hour  the  captain  sat,  and  amid  the  smoke- 
wreaths  of  his  pipe  mused  upon  things  that  had  been, 
things  that  might  have  been,  and  things  that  never 
could  be,  never  could  have  been. 


A   WHISPER  IN  THE  EAR.  5 

"  Have  a  stool  by  the  porthole,  Will ;  't  is  something 
warm  for  September,"  said  he,  as  he  closed  the  door. 

"  Ay,  but  you  always  have  a  good  air  at  this  east 
window,  and  a  fair  view  as  well,"  returned  the  governor, 
seating  himself. 

"  The  view  of  the  Charity  is  but  a  fleeting  one,  since 
she  sails  in  the  morning,"  remarked  Standish  dryly. 

"  Yes.  she  does,"  assented  Bradford,  with  an  air  of 
embarrassment  not  lost  upon  the  captain,  who  smiled 
ever  so  little,  and  lighted  his  pipe,  saying  between  the 
puffs,  — 

u  'T  is  safe  enough  to  smoke  in  this  den  of  mine,  Will, 
and  your  tobacco  is  a  wonderful  counselor." 

"  Say  you  so,  Myles  ?  Then  pass  over  your  pouch, 
for  I  am  in  sore  need  of  counsel  and  sought  it  of  you." 

"  Such  as  I  have  is  at  your  command,  Governor. 
What  is  the  matter  ?  " 

"  Well,  't  is  hard  to  put  it  in  any  dignified  or  magis 
terial  phrase,  Myles,  since,  truth  to  tell,  it  comes  of  the 
distaff  side  of  the  house  "  — <- 

"  Ay,  ay,  I  can  believe  it !  Has  Priscilla  Alden  been 
whispering  with  your  wife  ?  " 

*'  Nay,  not  that  I  know  of  ;  in  truth,  't  is  somewhat 
idler  than  even  that  foundation,  for  Mistress  Alden 
is  one  of  our  own,  but  this  —  well,  to  tell  the  story 
in  manful  sincerity,  my  wife  informs  me  that  Dame 
Lyford,  who  is  as  you  know  in  childbed,  and  much 
beholden  for  care  and  comfort  to  both  your  wife  and 
mine,  as  well  as  to  Priscilla  Alden,  last  night  fell  a-cry- 
ing,  and  said  she  was  a  miserable  wretch  to  receive 
nourishment  and  tendance  at  their  hands  when  her  hus 
band  was  practicing  with  Oldhame  and  others  for  our 
destruction.  In  the  beginning,  Alice  set  this  all  down 


6  BETTY  ALDEN. 

as  the  querulous  maundering  of  a  sick  woman  ;  but  when 
the  other  persisted,  and  spoke  of  treasonable  letters 
that  her  husband  had  writ,  and  read  out  to  Oldhame  in 
her  very  presence,  Dame  Bradford  began  to  pay  some 
heed,  and  ask  questions,  until  by  the  time  the  woman's 
strength  was  overborne  and  she  could  say  no  more,  the 
skeleton  of  a  plot  lay  bare,  which  should  it  be  clothed 
upon  with  sinew,  and  flesh,  and  armor,  and  weapons, 
might  slay  us  all  both  as  a  colony  and  as  particular 
men." 

"  A  dragon,  Priscilla  called  it,"  interposed  the  captain. 

"  Priscilla  !  Did  Mistress  Lyford  say  as  much  to 
her  as  to  my  wife  ?  "  asked  the  governor,  a  little  piqued. 

"  Nay,  I  know  not,  for  I  was,  according  to  my  wont, 
too  outspoken  to  listen  as  I  should." 

"  Well,  but  explain,  I  beg  of  you." 

"  All  is,  that  Priscilla  began  some  sort  of  warning 
anent  this  very  matter,  and  I  angered  her  with  some 
jibe  at  women  meddling  in  matters  too  mighty  for  them, 
so  that  I  know  not  what  she  might  have  had  to  tell." 

The  Governor  of  Plymouth  smiled  in  a  subtle  fashion 
peculiar  to  men  whose  vision  extends  beyond  their  own 
time.  "  Women,"  said  he  slowly,  as  he  pressed  the  to 
bacco  into  his  pipe,  —  "  women,  Myles,  are  like  the  bit 
of  lighted  tinder  I  will  lay  upon  this  inert  mass  of  dried 
weed.  The  tinder  is  so  trivial,  so  slight  a  thing,  so  dif 
ficult  to  handle,  so  easily  destroyed,  —  and  yet,  brother 
man,  how  without  it  should  we  derive  the  solace  and 
counsel  of  our  pipes  ?  " 

Glancing  at  each  other,  the  soldier  and  the  statesman 
laughed  somewhat  shamefacedly,  and  Myles  said,  — 

"Ay,  'tis  the  pith  of  ^sop's  fabla  of  the  Lion  and 
the  Mouse." 


A   WHISPER  IN  THE  EAE.  1 

"  "Well,  yes,  although  that  is  a  thought  too  arrogant, 
perhaps ;  and  yet  Master  Lion  is  ofttimes  a  stupid 
fellow,  though  he  is  styled  king  of  beasts." 

"  And  what  is  the  net  just  now,  my  Lord  Lion  ?  " 
demanded  Standish,  who  could  not  quite  relish  Brad 
ford's  philosophy.  The  governor  roused  himself  at 
the  question,  and  laying  aside  his  meditative  mood 
replied,  — 

"We  both  know,  Captain,  that  all  who  are  with  us 
are  not  of  us,  and  we  have  not  forgot  what  false  reports 
those  disaffected  fellows  carried  home  in  the  Anne,  nor 
the  mutterings  and  plottings  we  have  heard  and  sus 
pected  since." 

"  Shorten  John  Oldhame  by  the  head  and  you  will 
kill  the  whole  mutiny." 

"  That  sounds  very  simple,  but  is  hardly  a  feasible 
course,  Captain,  especially  as  we  have  no  proof  in  the 
matter,  and  it  is  upon  this  very  question  of  proof  that 
I  came  to  consult  you." 

"  And  I  just  shut  off  the  only  source  of  proof  I  am 
like  to  get." 

"Nay,  it  is  not  likely  that  Mistress  Alden  knows 
more  than  my  wife  has  already  repeated  to  me  of  what 
Dame  Lyford  can  reveal,  but  our  good  friend  Master 
Pierce  came  to  my  house  to-day  about  some  matters  I 
am  sending  to  my  wife's  sister,  Mary  Carpenter,  and  all 
by  chance  mentioned  that  he  had  in  trust  a  parcel  of 
letters  writ  by  Lyford,  with  one  or  two  by  Oldhame, 
and  that  both  men  had  charged  him  to  secrecy  in 
the  business.  Now,  Standish,  those  letters  contain  the 
moral  of  the  whole  matter." 

"  To  be  sure  ;  it  is  like  drawing  a  double  tooth  to  see 
them  sail  out  of  the  harbor." 


8  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Captain,  it  is  my  duty  as  the  chief  officer  of  this 
colony  to  learn  the  contents  of  these  missives." 

"  Yes,  but  how  ?  The  traitors  will  not  betray  them 
selves." 

"  I  must  privately  open  and  read  their  letters,  — it  is 
my  duty." 

"  No,  no,  Will ;  no,  no  !  I  can't  give  in  to  that ;  I 
can't  help  you  there,  man !  To  open  and  read  another 
man's  letter,  and  on  the  sly,  is  all  one  with  hearkening 
at  a  keyhole,  or  telling  a  lie,  or  turning  your  back  on 
an  enemy  without  a  blow.  You  can't  do  that,  Will,  let 
the  cause  be  what  it  may." 

And  as  the  captain's  astonished  gaze  fixed  itself  upon 
his  friend's  face,  Bradford  colored  deeply,  yet  made 
reply  in  a  voice  both  resolute  and  self-respecting,  — 

"  I  feel  as  you  do,  Standish,  and  as  any  honorable 
man  must ;  but  this  is  a  matter  involving  more  than 
mine  own  honor  or  pleasure.  If  these  men  are  persuad 
ing  our  associates  in  England  to  withdraw  from  their 
agreement,  and  refuse  to  send  us  further  supplies,  or  to 
find  a  market  for  our  commodities,  and  so  help  out  our 
own  struggles  for  subsistence,  we  and  all  these  weaklings 
dependent  upon  us  are  lost.  You  know  yourself  how 
hardly  we  came  through  the  famine  of  last  year,  and 
although  by  the  mercy  of  God  we  now  may  hope  to  pro 
vide  our  own  food,  what  can  we  do  for  clothes,  for  tools, 
for  even  the  means  of  communication  with  our  old  home, 
if  the  Adventurers  throw  us  over,  or  if  they  demand  im 
mediate  repayment  of  the  moneys  advanced  ?  In  every 
way,  and  for  all  sakes,  it  is  imperative  that  we  prevent 
an  evil  and  false  report  going  home  to  those  upon  whose 
help  we  still  must  rely  for  the  planting  of  our  colony." 

"  To  be  sure  it  is  the  usage  of  war  to  intercept  the 


A  WHISPER  IN  THE  EAR.  9 

enemy's  dispatches,"  mused  Standish,  tugging  at  his 
russet  beard  and  scowling  heavily. 

"  To  be  sure  it  is,"  returned  Bradford  eagerly.  "And 
although  these  men  are  not  avowed  enemies,  we  can  see 
that  they  are  not  friends.  Do  but  mark  how  thick  they 
are  with  Billington,  and  Hicks,  and  all  the  other  mal 
contents.  Oldhame's  house  is  a  regular  Cave  of  Adul- 
lam." 

"  Well,  Will,  tell  me  what  I  am  to  do  or  to  say  in  the 
matter.  You  know  that  I  am  ready  for  any  duty,  how 
ever  odious." 

"  I  fain  would  have  you  go  aboard  the  Charity  with 
me  to  inspect  her  carriages." 

"  Is  there  any  chance  of  a  fight  ?  " 

"  No,  no.  I  shall  not  go  aboard  until  the  last  mo 
ment,  when  all  but  Winslow  have  left." 

u  Winslow's  errand  home  is  to  see  the  Adventurers  ?" 

"  As  the  colony's  agent,  yes." 

"  And  he  knows  your  intent  ?  " 

"  Not  yet.  I  have  spoken  of  it  to  no  man  until  I  had 
your  mind  upon  it,  Standish.  To-night  I  shall  summon 
the  Assistants  to  my  house,  and  lay  the  matter  before 
them,  but  I  felt  moved  to  speak  of  it  first  to  you  in  pri 
vate." 

"  Lest  I  should  blaze  out  before  them  all,  where  you 
could  not  argue  the  matter  coolly  with  me,  eh  ?  " 

Bradford  smiled  as  he  knocked  the  ashes  out  of  his 
pipe  and  rose  to  go. 

"I  could  not  do  with  your  disapproval,  old  friend," 
said  he. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A    SHARP   PAIR    OF   SCISSORS. 

Two  men  stood  upon  Cole's  Hill,  half  sheltering  them 
selves  behind  the  ragged  growth  of  scrub  oaks  and  pop 
lars  sprung  from  those  graves  of  the  first  winter,  sown 
by  the  survivors  to  wheat  lest  the  savages  should  per 
ceive  that  half  the  company  were  dead.  That  pathetic 
crop  of  grain  had  perished  on  the  ground  and  never 
been  renewed  ;  but  Nature,  tender  mother,  soon  replaced 
it  with  a  robe  of  her  own  symbolism,  green  as  her  fa 
vorite  clothing  ever  is,  and  embroidered  with  the  starry 
flowers  of  the  succory,  blue  as  heaven. 

From  the  grave  of  John  Carver  and  Katharine  his 
wife  had  sprung  a  graceful  clump  of  birches,  and  it  was 
behind  these  that  the  two  men  finally  took  up  their  post 
of  observation.  One  of  them  was  John  Lyford,  a  smooth 
and  white  faced  man,  whose  semi-clerical  garb  only  ac 
cented  his  cunning  eyes  and  sensual  mouth.  A  double 
renegade  this,  for,  flying  to  the  New  World  to  escape  the 
punishment  of  his  sins  in  England,  he  proffered  himself 
to  the  Pilgrims  as  a  convert  to  their  creed,  renouncing 
with  oaths  and  tears  his  Episcopal  ordination,  although 
assured  by  those  liberal-minded  men  that  such  recanta 
tion  was  not  required  or  desired  ;  then,  having  joined 
the  Church  of  the  Separation  entirely  of  his  own  free 
will,  he  turned  viperwise  upon  the  hand  that  fed  him, 
and  began  plotting  against  the  peace,  nay  the  very  life, 


A  SHARP  PAIR  OF  SCISSORS.  11 

of  his  generous  hosts,  and  leading  away  those  weak  and 
disaffected  souls  to  be  found  in  every  community. 

John  Oldhame,  his  companion,  was  a  very  different 
sort  of  person.  Big,  loud-voiced,  and  dogmatic,  he  was 
the  sailor  who  would  see  the  ship  driven  to  destruction 
on  the  rocks  unless  he  could  be  captain  and  give  orders 
to  every  one  else. 

The  motives  of  these  two  conspirators  were  as  diverse 
as  their  antecedents,  although  both  came  out  under  the 
auspices  of  the  London  Adventurers,  of  whom  a  word 
must  be  said.  These  gentlemen,  knowing  a  good  deal 
less  of  New  England  than  we  do  of  the  sources  of  the 
Nile,  had  adventured  certain  moneys  in  fitting  out  the 
Pilgrims,  and  in  sustaining  them  until  they  should  be 
able  to  repay  the  sums  thus  advanced  "  with  interest 
thereto."  When  the  Mayflower  made  her  first  return, 
leaving  fifty  of  the  Pilgrims  in  their  graves  and  the 
other  fifty  just  struggling  back  to  life  and  feebly  begin 
ning  their  plantation  and  house  building,  the  Adven 
turers  were  exceedingly  wroth  that  she  did  not  come 
freighted  with  lumber,  furs,  and  especially  salted  fish 
enough  to  nearly  pay  for  her  voyage.  Their  bitter  re 
proaches  written  to  Carver  were  answered  with  manly 
dignity  by  Bradford,  but  a  really  cordial  feeling  was 
never  reestablished,  and  when  the  Pilgrims  requested 
that  either  Robinson  or  some  other  minister  should  be 
cent  out  to  them,  the  Adventurers  imposed  Lyford  upon 
them,  some  of  them  giving  him  secret  instructions  to  act 
as  a  spy  in  their  behalf. 

John  Oldhame,  a  man  of  means  and  position,  came 
out  upon  a  different  footing,  paying  his  own  expenses, 
and  being,  as  the  Pilgrims  phrased  it,  "on  his  own 
particular  "  instead  of  "  on  the  general "  or  joint  stock 


BETTY  ALDEN. 

account.  But  events  soon  made  it  plain  that  a  very  good 
understanding  existed  between  Oldhame  and  the  Adven 
turers,  and  that  if  he  should  be  enabled  to  detect  his 
hosts  in  defrauding  the  Adventurers,  whose  greedy  maws 
never  were  fully  satisfied,  they  would  transfer  their  pro 
tection  and  countenance  to  him,  sustaining  him  as  a  rival 
or  even  supplanter  of  the  interests  of  the  men  they  had 
undertaken  to  befriend. 

The  Pilgrims  had  the  faults  of  their  virtues  in  very 
marked  degree,  and  carried  patience,  meekness,  long- 
suffering,  and  credulity  to  a  point  most  irritating  to 
their  historians  and  very  subversive  of  their  worldly 
interests.  Doubtless,  however,  they  found  their  account 
in  the  final  reckoning,  and  one  must  try  to  be  patient 
with  their  goodness.  All  which  means  that  if  this  grow 
ing  treason  in  their  midst  was  at  all  suspected  it  was 
not  noticed,  and  both  Oldhame  and  Lyford  were  admit 
ted  to  the  full  privileges  of  townsmen,  including  a  seat 
at  the  Council  and  full  knowledge  of  the  colony's  con 
cerns.  Lyford,  in  virtue  of  the  ordination,  so  scornfully 
abjured  by  himself,  was  requested  to  act  as  minister  in 
association  with  Elder  Brewster,  although  some  quiet 
doubts  still  prevented  his  admission  to  the  position  of 
pastor. 

With  this  necessary  explanation  of  the  position  of 
affairs  we  return  to  the  hiding-place  behind  the  birches, 
whence  the  conspirators  watched  a  boat  manned  by  four 
sailors  which  lay  uneasily  tossing  on  the  flood  tide,  rub 
bing  its  nose  against  the  Rock,  while,  in  the  offing,  a 
ship  ready  for  sea  lay  awaiting  it. 

"Bradford  is  certainly  going  aboard  the  Charity. 
They  're  waiting  for  him,  and  there  he  comes  down  The 
Street,"  growled  Oldhame  at  length. 


A  SHARP  PAIE  OF  SCISSORS.  13 

"  Perhaps  only  to  see  Winslow  off.  He,  he  !  the  Ad 
venturers  will  show  Master  Envoy  Winslow  but  a  sour 
face  when  they  've  read  our  letters,"  sniggered  Lyford. 

"  I  wish  he  might  be  clapt  up  in  jail  for  the  rest  of 
his  life,  confound  him  !  " 

"  There  's  Standish  along  of  Bradford  !  Think  he  's 
going  aboard,  too  ?  "  And  Lyford's  face  showed  such 
craven  terror  that  Oldhame  laughed  aloud. 

"  Afraid  of  Captain  Shrimp,  as  Tom  Morton  calls 
him  ?  "  demanded  he.  "  I  've  put  a  spoke  in  his  wheel, 
at  any  rate.  You  writ  down  what  I  advised  about  an 
other  commander,  did  n't  you  ?  " 

"Ay.  To  send  him  over  at  all  odds,  and  to  arrest 
this  fellow  for  high  treason." 

"Ah!  He's  riot  going  aboard  after  all,"  ejaculated 
Oldhame  venomously.  "  Feels  he  must  stay  ashore  and 
watch  you  and  me  and  Hicks  and  Billington  and  some 
of  the  rest.  Set  him  up  for  a  sneaking,  prying  little 
watch-dog !  But  let  him  undertake  to  order  me  about 
as  he  did  t'  other  day,  and  I  '11  cram  his  square  teeth 
down  his  bull's  throat  for  him,  damn  him  !  " 

"  He,  he,  he  !  There  's  no  love  lost  between  you  and 
Captain  Standish,  is  there,  Master  Oldhame  ?  There, 
they  're  off,  —  Winslow  and  Bradford  only  ;  and  Cap 
tain  Shrimp  returns  up  the  hill  with  the  rest.  I  sore 
mistrust  me  the  governor  has  got  scent  of  those  letters, 
Oldhame." 

"Pho,  pho,  man!  Don't  be  so  timorous.  Pierce 
won't  give  up  the  letters,  and  if  he  did,  Bradford  would 
think  twice  before  opening  them.  Let  him  dare  put  a 
finger  to  one  of  mine,  and  I  '11  bring  the  whole  house 
about  his  ears!  I'd  like  to  catch  him  at  it.  I'd  — 
why,  I  'd  give  him  a  taste  of  my  fists,  —  one  for  him- 


14  BETTY  ALDEX. 

self,   and   one   to  pass   on  to  his   neighbor,    and   after 
that"  — 

"M-o-o-o!  "  broke  in  a  voice  close  behind,  and,  with 
a  start,  the  conspirators  faced  round  to  meet  "  the  great 
red  cow,"  recently  arrived  in  the  Charity,  and,  with  her, 
the  comely  but  scoffing  face  of  Priseilla  Alden. 

"  I  cry  your  pardon,  gentlemen,  if  I  have  disturbed 
a  secret  conclave,  but  as  my  babes  have  a  share  of  this 
cow's  milk,  I  like  her  not  to  feed  among  the  graves. 
All  sorts  of  unclean  creatures  lurk  here,  and  I  fear  lest 
the  poor  beast  find  contamination." 

"  A  saucy  wench,  and  one  that  would  well  grace  the 
ducking-stool,"  growled  Oldhame  as  Priscilla  drove  her 
cow  away ;  while  Lyford,  remembering  that  she  had 
that  morning  brought  his  wife  a  delicate  breakfast, 
laughed  uneasily  and  made  no  reply. 

The  governor's  boat  meanwhile,  merrily  driven  by  the 
"  white-ash  breeze  "  of  four  stalwart  oars,  had  reached 
the  ship's  side,  signaling,  as  she  passed,  the  colony's 
pinnace,  which,  under  easy  sail,  lay  off  and  on  the  an 
chorage  of  the  Charity. 

"Good-morrow,  Governor.  You  are  welcome  aboard, 
Master  Winslow,"  cried  the  hearty  voice  of  William 
Pierce,  master  of  the  Charity,  and  friend  of  the  Pil 
grims,  as  the  passengers  came  aboard ;  and  then,  as  if 
their  errand  were  one  needing  no  explanation,  he  led 
the  way  at  once  to  his  own  cabin,  fastened  the  door, 
and  from  a  small  locker  at  the  foot  of  the  bed-place 
took  a  packet  of  letters  enveloped  in  oilskin.  Laying 
these  upon  the  little  table  and  still  resting  his  hand 
upon  them,  the  honest  mariner  looked  steadily  in  the 
faces  of  his  visitors. 

"  Master    Bradford,   you    are    the    governor    of   this 


A  SHARP  PAIR  OF  SCISSORS.  15 

colony  and  its  chief  authority.  Do  you,  in  the  presence 
of  Master  Edward  Winslow,  your  agent  to  the  home 
government  and  one  of  your  principal  assistants,  de 
mand  the  surrender  of  these  letters  confided  to  my  care 
by  persons  under  your  government  ?  " 

"  I  do,  Master  Pierce,"  replied  Bradford  distinctly, 
"  and  I  call  Edward  Winslow  to  witness  that  the  re 
sponsibility  is  mine  and  that  of  my  Board  of  Assistants, 
and  that  you  are  guiltless  in  the  matter.  Nevertheless, 
I  will  not  pretend  that  Master  Oldhame  and  his  party 
are  directly  under  my  government,  since  they  came  to 
Plymouth  on  their  own  account,  and  are  not  ranked 
as  of  the  general  company,  but  rather  on  their  own 
particular." 

a  Still  they  are  bound  by  the  laws  we  all  have  sub 
scribed  to  for  our  mutual  safety  and  advantage,"  sug 
gested  Winslow,  and  would  have  said  more  had  not 
Pierce  bluffly  interposed,  — 

"  Well,  well,  all  these  niceties  are  out  of  my  line. 
Some  colonists  have  confided  certain  letters  to  me ;  the 
governor  of  the  colony  makes  requisition  upon  me  be 
fore  a  competent  witness  for  these  letters,  suspecting 
treason  therein  ;  I  surrender  them  to  his  keeping,  and 
there  ends  my  responsibility.  And  now  I  will  go  and 
make  sail  upon  my  ship.  Governor,  your  pinnace  shall 
be  summoned  whenever  you  give  the  signal."  And 
Captain  Pierce  turned  toward  the  companion-way,  but 
presently  returned,  a  genial  smile  replacing  the  slight 
annoyance  darkening  his  face,  and  going  to  the  "  ditty 
bag"  suspended  near  the  porthole,  he  fumbled  for  a 
moment,  then  threw  what  he  had  found  upon  the  table, 
adding  merrily,  "  And  if  you  want  to  make  a  neat  job 
of  it,  Bradford,  here 's  a  sharp  little  pair  of  scissors. 


16  BETTY  ALDEN. 

We  sailors  hate  to  see  a  trick  of  work  bungled,  if  it 's 
nothing  better  than  ferreting  out  treason." 

And  with  a  smart  westerly  breeze  the  Charity  set 
her  nose  toward  England,  and  plunged  bravely  out 
into  the  Atlantic.  Before  she  sighted  the  scene  of  the 
Pilgrim  Mothers'  first  washing-day,  however,  she  lay  to, 
while  the  governor's  pinnace  was  brought  alongside, 
and  he  and  Winslow  came  on  deck  and  stood  for  a 
moment  hand  in  hand. 

"God  be  with  you,  brother,"  said  Bradford  in  a 
voice  of  restrained  emotion.  "Remember  that  until 
you  return  we  are  as  a  man  half  whose  limbs  are  pal 
sied  ;  nay.  Carver  in  that  prophetic  moment  called  you 
our  brain.  Remember  it,  Winslow." 


CHAPTER  III. 

TREASON. 

"  MASTER  OLDHAME,  you  are  set  upon  the  watch 
to-night,  and  will  report  after  the  evening  gun  at  the 
Fort." 

"  The  devil  you  say,  Giles  Hopkins  !  And  who  gave 
you  leave  to  order  your  betters  about  ?  " 

"  Captain  Standish  names  the  watch,  and  I  as  ancient- 
bearer  am  under  his  orders  and  carry  his  messages." 

"  You  may  be  under  Satan's  orders  or  under  a  mon 
key's  orders  for  aught  I  care,  Giles,  my  boy,  but  if  you 
dare  come  nigh  me  with  any  more  of  Captain  Shrimp's 
orders  I  '11  wring  your  neck  for  you,  master  bantam 
cockerel,  mark  you  that." 

"  I  will  report  to  the  captain,"  calmly  replied  Hop 
kins,  who,  despite  his  father's  restless  example,  was  fast 
becoming  one  of  the  colony's  most  valued  young  citi 
zens. 

A  profane  exclamation  was  Oldhame's  only  reply,  but 
as  the  ensign  strode  away  he  turned  his  head  and  called 
into  the  house  at  whose  door  he  sat,  — 

"  Lyford  !  Lyford  !  Here  's  some  merry  -  making 
afoot !  Captain  Shrimp  has  summoned  me  to  stand  on 
watch  to-night,  and  I  have  sent  him  and  his  errand-boy 
to  the  devil.  Aha  !  here  he  comes  himself  with  fury 
stiffening  every  hair  of  his  red  beard  and  snapping  out 
of  his  eyes.  Stand  behind  the  door  and  hearken  "  — 


18  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Good-even,  Master  Oldhame,"  struck  in  the  firm  and 
repressed  tones  of  a  voice  at  sound  of  which  Lyford 
cringed  closer  in  his  corner,  and  Oldhame  blustered 
uneasily,  — 

"  Good-even,  Myles  Standish." 

"It  is  your  turn  in  regular  rotation,  Master  Oldhame, 
to  stand  sentry-watch  to-night  as  you  have  done  before, 
and  as  every  man  in  the  colony  is  called  upon  to  do. 
Will  you  kindly  report  at  the  Fort  after  gun-fire  this 
evening  ?  " 

"  No,  I  won't,  Captain  Shrimp." 

"  You  refuse  to  obey  the  law  of  the  colony  ?  " 

"  I  refuse  to  be  said  by  you,  you  beggarly  little 
rascal." 

"  Then  I  shall  arrest  you  as  a  traitor,  and  if  I  had 
my  will,  I  'd  have  you  out  and  shoot  you  at  sunrise." 

"  Oh,  you  would,  would  you,  you  wretched  base- 
born  " — 

"  Have  a  care,  man,  have  a  care.  Stop  while  you 
may  !  "  And  the  captain's  voice  deepened  to  a  growl, 
and  his  eyes,  wide  open,  yet  contracted  in  the  pupil  to  a 
point  of  fire,  fixed  themselves  like  weapons  upon  those 
of  the  mutineer,  who,  maddened  by  their  menace,  sprung 
to  his  feet  knife  in  hand,  and  aimed  a  blow  at  the  cap 
tain's  face  that  might  have  forever  quenched  the  Hght 
of  those  magnetic  eyes,  had  it  not  been  caught  on  the 
hilt  of  Gideon,  the  good  sword  that  in  these  days  hung 
ever  at  his  master's  side,  although  he  seldom  needed  to 
quit  his  scabbard. 

"  Villain,  you  've  broken  my  wrist !  "  yelled  Oldhame, 
dropping  his  knife,  upon  which  Standish  planted  his  foot. 

"  To  me  !  To  me,  men  !  Help  !  Murder  !  To  me, 
Oldhames  !  "  again  shouted  the  traitor,  but  although  a 


TEEASON.  19 

score  or  so  of  the  townsmen  gathered  at  the  cry,  not 
one  made  any  demonstration  or  reply,  while  Standish, 
setting  his  lips  and  drawing  two  or  three  heavy  breaths, 
hardly  cast  a  glance  at  the  crowd,  but  laying  a  hand 
upon  Gideon's- hilt  coldly  demanded, — 

"  John  Oldhame,  do  you  refuse  to  stand  your  watch 
to-night  ?  " 

A  volley  of  abuse  from  Oldhame  was  interrupted  by  a 
messenger  from  Bradford,  who,  saluting  the  captain, 
reported,  — 

"  The  governor  sends  to  know  the  cause  of  the  tu 
mult,  and  desires  Captain  Standish  to  arrest  any  disor 
derly  persons  refusing  to  submit  to  authority." 

"  My  respects  to  the  governor,  and  I  am  about  to  do 
so,"  replied  Standish  in  the  hard  and  cold  tone  which  at 
once  repressed  and  betrayed  his  passion. 

"  John  Oldhame,  I  arrest  you  in  the  name  of  the  law ! 
Alden,  Howland,  Browne,  I  summon  you  to  my  aid  ! 
Convey  this  man  to  the  Fort  and  lock  him  in  the  strong 
room.  Do  him  no  bodily  harm  unless  he  resist,  but 
secure  him  without  delay." 

Then  ensued  such  a  scene  as  Plymouth  had  as  yet 
never  seen,  for  with  one  or  two  exceptions  the  men  who 
shared  the  struggles  and  perils  of  the  colony's  first  days 
had  become  too  closely  welded  together,  and  were  too 
self-respecting,  to  rebel  against  the  authority  they  had 
themselves  elected. 

But  no  sooner  were  the  goodly  foundations  of  the 
new  home  laid  and  cemented  in  the  blood  of  those  who 
dared  all  for  Freedom's  sake,  than  the  anarchist  arrived 
to  throw  down  what  was  already  wrought,  and  erect  his 
own  den  upon  the  ruins. 

Oldhame,  maddened  both  at  his  defeat  and  the  failure 


20  BETTY  ALDEN. 

of  those  who  had  listened  to  his  treason  to  make  an  open 
revolt  in  his  favor,  lost  all  control  both  of  words  and 
actions,  and  so  ramped  and  raved,  so  cursed  and  vitu 
perated,  so  kicked  and  smote  and  struggled,  that  it  was 
not  without  a  most  unseemly  contest  that  he  was  finally 
secured  and  dragged  up  the  Burying  Hill  to  the  Fort, 
where  in  the  corner  opposite  to  the  captain's  den  was  a 
strong-room,  small,  but  as  yet  quite  sufficient  for  the 
colony's  need  of  a  prison. 

A  few  hours  of  silence  and  solitude  wrought  a  change, 
however,  and  John  Alden,  who  held  the  position  of 
prison-warden,  came  down  the  hill  toward  sunset  with  a 
request  from  the  prisoner  that  he  might  see  Master  Ly- 
ford. 

"  The  wolf  would  fain  take  counsel  with  the  fox,"  re 
marked  Priscilla  when  her  husband  told  her  his  errand. 
"  And  our  over-amiable  sheep-dogs  will  never  say  nay 
to  such  a  modest  request." 

"  Pity  but  they  made  thee  governor,  Pris,"  suggested 
John  with  a  bovine  smile  intended  to  be  sarcastical. 

"Ay,"  coolly  replied  his  wife.  "  'T  would  save  some 
trouble.  'Tis  a  roundabout  way  we  women  have  to 
manage  now." 

"  Eh  ?  what  do  all  those  fine  words  mean  when  they  're 
put  straight,  wife  ?  " 

"  They  mean  that  you  'd  better  do  your  errand  to  the 
governor  before  sunset,  and  then  come  home  to  eat  my 
bannocks  while  they  're  fresh." 

u  You  're  right,  Pris,  and  I  'm  gone." 

But  the  bannocks  were  not  to  be  eaten  for  another 
hour  or  so,  during  which  time  Master  Lyford  was  clos 
eted  with  his  associate  in  the  strong-room,  and  Alden 
kept  ward  without. 


TREASON.  21 

That  evening  the  ex-minister  sought  the  governor's 
presence,  and  with  many  protestations  of  regret  at  the 
late  unfortunate  misunderstanding,  as  he  phrased  it,  of 
fered  Oldhame's  submission  and  willingness  to  comply 
with  the  military  requirements  of  the  government,  add 
ing  craftily,  — 

"  If  our  worthy  governor  were  also  our  captain  there 
could  never  be  any  of  these  troubles." 

"  That  would  be  to  burn  down  the  house  because  the 
chimney  smokes  now  and  again,"  replied  Bradford  good- 
humoredly.  "  It  is  largely  due  to  Captain  Standish's 
courage  and  skill,  not  to  mention  his  loyalty,  his  stead 
fastness,  and  his  wisdom,  that  this  colony  is  other  than  a 
handful  of  ashes  and  a  field  of  graves.  When  you  new 
comers  have  learned  to  know  him,  you  will  value  our 
captain  as  we  do." 

The  next  morning  Master  Oldhame  was  released,  and 
the  next  night  stood  his  watch,  nor,  jealously  as  he 
watched  and  listened  for  them,  was  there  a  look  or  a 
tone  from  the  captain  or  any  of  his  adherents  to  remind 
the  conquered  rebel  of  his  discomfiture,  or  the  triumph 
of  authority. 

The  next  Sunday,  or  as  it  was  universally  called,  the 
Lord's  Day,  the  plot  laid  in  the  strong-room  of  the  Fort 
developed  most  unexpectedly. 

When  at  ten  o'clock  Bartholomew  Allerton,  now  pro 
moted  to  the  post  of  band-master  to  the  colony's  army, 
beat  the  "  assembly  "  in  the  Town  Square  as  a  summons 
to  the  church-goers  to  meet  and  form  in  their  usual  pro 
cession  up  the  hill,  he  was  confronted  by  Peter  Old 
hame,  a  lad  somewhat  younger  than  himself,  who  swung 
a  cow  bell  almost  in  the  drummer's  face,  shouting,  — 

"  To  chujch  !  To  church  !  Englishmen  hearken  to 
the  English  Church  !  To  church !  To  church  !  " 


22  BETTY  ALDEN. 

Bradford,  who  was  just  coming  out  of  his  house  with 
Alice  and  Christian  Penn,  her  buxom  handmaiden,  fol 
lowing  meekly  behind,  stopped  and  looked  sternly  at  the 
intruder  until  he,  turning  his  back,  walked  down  Leyden 
Street  toward  the  old  Common  House,  disused  now  ex 
cept  for  storage. 

44  Shall  I  arrest  the  varlet,  and  clap  him  up  in  the 
strong-room?"  asked  Bart  Allerton  eagerly,  as  he 
swung  the  drum-gear  off  his  shoulder. 

"  Nay,  my  son ;  it  is  the  Lord's  Day  and  we  will  not 
farther  disturb  its  peace.  This  rebel  has  ceased  his 
summons  and  you  may  do  so  also,  lest  worse  come  of  it." 

"  Does  your  honor  see  Master  Lyford  in  gown  and 
bands  coming  out  of  Master  Oldhame's  house  ?  " 

"  Nay,  Bart,  I  see  him  not,  for  I  look  not  at  him. 
Now  no  more,  good  youth,  but  fall  into  rank  with  your 
fellows." 

And  fifty  men  or  more,  each  armed  and  ready  for  bat 
tle  either  with  men  or  the  Ghostly  Enemy  who  inspirits 
men,  moved  in  solemn  procession  of  threes  up  Burying 
Hill  to  the  Fort,  the  rear  closed  by  the  governor  in  his 
robe  of  office,  with  the  Elder  in  his  gown  at  his  light 
hand,  and  the  captain  in  full  uniform  at  his  left. 

Not  a  word  was  exchanged  between  the  leaders  upon 
the  events  of  the  morning,  but  it  was  no  news  to  any  of 
them,  when  the  long  service  was  over  and  in  the  seclu 
sion  of  home  the  women's  tongues  were  let  loose,  to  hear 
that  Lyford,  in  spite  of  his  abject  repudiation  of  his 
Episcopal  ordination,  and  membership  with  the  Separatist 
Church,  had  gathered  a  congregation,  read  the  English 
Service,  preached  a  vituperative  sermon  against  the 
leaders  of  the  colony,  and  administered  the  Communion. 

Such  open  bravado  and  schism  as  this  toukl  not  be 


TREASON.  23 

allowed  to  continue,  for  although  the  Pilgrims  never 
persecuted  any  man  for  honest  difference  of  religious  be 
lief,  and  were  on  very  cordial  terms  with  many  mem 
bers  of  the  English  Church,  whom  their  pastor  Robin 
son  received  to  Communion  and  fellowship,  it  was  hardly 
to  be  expected  that  they  would  permit  a  double  apostate 
like  Lyford  to  gather  a  body  of  malcontents  in  their 
midst,  and  hold  services  avowedly  antagonistic  to  the 
church  of  the  Pilgrims. 

Nobody,  therefore,  was  surprised  when,  on  the  Mon 
day  following  this  Sunday,  the  governor's  message  went 
forth  summoning  all  the  men  of  the  colony,  whether 
church-members,  citizens,  or  only  temporary  residents,  to 
assemble  at  the  Fort  at  nine  of  the  clock  on  Tuesday 
morning  in  a  Court  of  the  People,  the  colony  not  yet 
having  outgrown  this,  the  ideal  mode  of  popular  govern 
ment. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


AGAIN  Bartholomew  Allerton,  with  much  pride  in 
the  performance,  beat  out  the  "  assembly  "  in  the  Town 
Square,  and  at  the  sound  some  fourscore  men  gathered 
from  the  houses,  the  shore,  or  those  impaled  garden 
plots  surrounding  each  house,  where  already  patient  toil 
had  produced  in  the  wilderness  very  sweet  reminis 
cences  of  English  cottage-gardens. 

The  weather  was  wild,  and  ominous  with  the  promise 
of  one  of  those  fierce  storms  of  wind  and  rain,  pretty 
sure  to  visit  the  coast  in  March  and  September,  and  still 
called  by  Plymouth  folk  the  line  storm,  or  the  equi 
noctial,  in  calm  contempt  of  modern  meteorological  theo 
ries.  They  also  call  a  thunder-shower,  however  slight, 
a  "  tempest,"  and  who  is  to  object  ?  Not  I. 

"  Master  Lyford's  friends  are  gathering  in  force," 
remarked  Standish,  as  he  stood  at  the  door  of  his  house 
just  below  the  Fort  on  Burying  Hill. 

"  His  friends  !  "  repeated  Alden,  who,  living  in  the 
house  between  that  of  the  governor  and  the  captain,  was 
often  to  be  found  in  company  of  the  latter.  "  I  did  not 
think  he  had  friends  enough  in  Plymouth  to  be  called  a 
force." 

"  Not  in  Plymouth,  nor  yet  in  heaven,  but  somewhere 
between  the  two.  The  armies  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Power  of  the  Air." 


THOU  ART  THE  MAN!  25 

And  Standish,  smiling  grimly,  pointed  to  the  troops 
of  clouds  scurrying  up  over  Manomet,  and  Watson's 
Hill,  and  all  along  the  eastern  and  southern  horizon ; 
serried  ranks,  and  scattered  outposts,  and  flying  vedettes, 
which,  now  by  a  flank  movement,  and  now  by  an  onward 
rush,  seemed  taking  possession  of  all  the  blue  battlefield 
above,  blotting  out  the  azure,  and  audaciously  attacking 
the  great  sun  himself. 

"  'T  is  the  equinoctial,"  stammered  John  Alden,  per 
plexed. 

"The  wind,  the  great  wind  Euroclydon,"  replied 
Standish,  who  loved  the  sonorous  and  martial  sound  of 
old  Bible  English,  and  read  it  alternately  with  his 
Csesar. 

"  Are  you  ready,  Captain  ?  You  remember  our  ar 
rangements  ? "  asked  Bradford,  his  fine  face  a  little 
more  pallid,  a  little  more  nervous  than  its  wont,  as  he 
stopped  on  his  way  up  the  hill  with  the  Elder  and  Doc 
tor  Fuller,  who  was  vehemently  saying,  — 

"  Oh,  he  '11  clear  himself,  Elder,  he  '11  clear  himself  ; 
an  unsuspicious  man  like  Brother  Lyford  may  be  led 
into  unadvised  action  from  the  very  best  and  soundest 
of  motives." 

"  Then  he  must  be  restrained,  for  the  safety  of  other 
people  as  well  as  for  his  own,"  replied  the  Elder  coldly. 
"  If  one  of  your  fever  patients  took  a  fancy  in  his  delir 
ium  to  set  the  house  afire,  I  don't  suppose  you  would 
leave  him  unchecked  in  his  action,  however  blameless 
you  might  hold  himself." 

"  No,  no  ;  —  and  yet  —  and  yet  "  —  muttered  the  doc 
tor,  whose  common  sense  found  itself  sadly  at  war  with 
a  whimsical  fancy  he  had  conceived  for  Lyford,  who  was 
to  be  sure  a  university-bred  man,  and  an  accomplished 


26  BETTY  ALDEN. 

botanist,  thus  affording  to  the  alumnus  of  Peter-house, 
Cambridge,  opportunity,  which  he  did  not  often  enjoy, 
for  conversation  on  his  favorite  topics. 

His  annoyance  found,  however,  no  farther  expression 
until,  entering  the  Fort,  he  pettishly  exclaimed,  "  "Well, 
if  we  are  to  find  an  honest  man  we  shall  need  Diogenes' 
lantern,  or  at  any  rate  a  twopenny  dip  or  so." 

"  'T  is  the  gathering  storm,"  replied  Bradford  in  a 
depressed  voice,  as  he  stood  upon  the  threshold  of  the 
low-ceiled  chamber,  lighted  only  by  narrow  slits  intended 
more  for  defense  than  comfort.  The  bare  benches  were 
already  occupied  by  some  eighty  or  ninety  men,  their 
pointed  hats,  sombre  doublets,  and  burnished  "  pieces  " 
showing  grotesquely  through  the  gloom  which  seemed  to 
solidify  the  shadows  and  exaggerate  the  lights,  while 
an  occasional  flash  of  lightning  added  the  last  effect  to 
the  picture. 

A  restless  movement,  a  sense  rather  than  a  sound  of 
expectancy,  a  feeling  of  controversy,  of  doubt,  of  possi 
ble  resistance,  was  in  the  air,  and  Bradford's  sensitive 
organization  responded  at  once  to  the  thrill. 

"Pray  for  us  mightily  to-day,  Elder,  pray  for  un 
worthy  me,"  whispered  he,  as  the  two  ascended  the 
platform  at  the  head  of  the  hall,  where  stood  the  gov 
ernor's  armchair  with  seats  at  either  hand  for  his  five 
assistants,  and  benches  for  such  persons  as  should  be 
invited  to  occupy  them. 

To  this  appeal  the  Elder  responded  only  by  a  search 
ing  glance  from  eyes  of  cold  and  wintry  gray,  and,  pass 
ing  on,  he  took  his  place  at  the  governor's  right  hand, 
while  Allerton  and  Doctor  Fuller  seated  themselves  at 
the  left.  Winslow's  place  was  left  vacant,  and  Stan- 
dish,  instead  of  assuming  his,  stood  near  the  door,  fully 


THOU  ART  THE  MAN!  27 

armed  and  equipped,  watching  Master  Oldhame,  who, 
with  Lyford  and  several  of  their  insolent  followers, 
came  strolling  up  the  hill,  laughing  loudly,  and  display 
ing  an  exaggerated  carelessness  of  demeanor. 

As  they  entered,  Standish,  quietly  placing  himself 
between  the  two  principals  and  their  following,  waved 
the  latter  to  seats  at  the  rear  of  the  hall,  and,  courte 
ously  addressing  the  former,  said,  — 

"  The  governor  and  council  crave  your  presence  upon 
the  platform,  gentlemen." 

"  And  why  so  much  ceremony  to-day,  Captain  Stan- 
dish  ?  "  demanded  Oldhame  in  a  blustering  attempt  to 
imitate  the  suavity  of  the  soldier.  "  We  have  had  the 
privilege  and  the  honor,  if  there  be  any,  of  sitting  upon 
yon  platform  more  than  once  already,  and  need  not  to 
be  marshaled  thither  to-day  more  than  on  other  days." 

"Ay,  but  to-day  the  governor  designs  to  pay  you 
some  special  attention,  and  your  seats  are  not  as  be 
fore,"  replied  Standish  grimly,  and,  without  waiting  for 
reply,  strode  on  up  the  hall  followed  by  the  mutineers, 
who,  in  spite  of  their  best  efforts  at  audacity,  presented 
an  aspect  of  mingled  apprehension  and  wrath,  ill  becom 
ing  the  leaders  of  a  righteous  revolution. 

The  elevated  seats  were,  indeed,  a  little  differently 
arranged  from  usual.  The  five  official  chairs  stood  in 
their  customary  position,  but  no  other  seat  remained 
except  one  bench  placed  near  the  edge  of  the  platform, 
and  at  such  an  angle  that  the  occupants  faced  both  the 
governor  and  the  mass  of  the  people.  To  this  bench 
Standish  silently  but  peremptorily  waved  the  two  men, 
who  both  felt  and  appeared  more  like  prisoners  than 
guests.  Hesitating  a  moment,  Oldhame  led  the  way 
up  the  steps,  and  before  seating  himself  would  have 


28  BETTY  ALDEN. 

pushed  back  the  bench  so  as  to  place  it  at  right  angles 
to  the  front  edge  of  the  platform,  but  found  it  secured 
to  the  flooring.  With  an  angry  scowl  he  was  about  to 
speak,  but  Bradford,  raising  a  hand  with  quiet  dignity, 
said,  — 

"  Let  be,  if  it  please  you,  Master  Oldhame.  This 
Court  of  the  People  is  convened  to  inquire  into  certain 
matters  concerning  you,  and  it  is  best  that  you  should 
be  placed  in  the  front  of  the  assembly  that  all  men 
may  both  see  and  hear  your  innocence,  if  haply  you  can 
prove  it." 

"  Innocence,  Master  Governor  !  Innocence  of  what  ?  " 
demanded  Oldhame  truculently,  while  Lyford's  face  sud 
denly  lost  its  color,  and  moistening  his  lips  with  his 
tongue,  he  cast  such  crafty  and  alarmed  looks  around 
the  assembly  that  Giles  Hopkins  whispered  to  Philip 
De  la  Noye,  — 

"Mind  you  that  rat  we  found  in  the  trap  t'other 
day  ?  I  wish  I  had  my  little  dog  here  to  worry  him." 

"  You  shall  be  both  heard  and  answered  anon, 
friend,"  replied  Bradford  patiently.  "  First,  however, 
we  will  ask  the  Elder  to  lead  us  in  prayer  for  guidance 
and  for  wisdom." 

Fervently  and  strongly  did  the  Elder  respond  to  this 
summons,  nor  did  he  at  all  forget  the  whispered  petition 
Bradford  had  made  in  the  moment  of  his  weakness  ; 
and  once  again  the  prayer  of  faith  became  effectual, 
even  in  the  moment  of  its  utterance,  so  that  when  "Wil 
liam  Bradford  said  Amen  it  was  in  more  calmness, 
more  conscious  strength,  and  more  security  of  divine 
guidance,  than  he  had  been  able  to  feel  for  days. 

Standing  before  his  people  in  all  the  simple  dignity 
of  his  character  and  his  position,  he  addressed  them  as 


THOU  AET  THE  MAN!  29 

friends,  as  associates,  as  freemen,  taking  for  granted 
that  each  was  as  eager  as  himself  to  retain  in  all  its 
completeness  the  great  treasure  of  freedom  and  of  self- 
government  they  had  attained.  "  For,"  said  he,  turning 
his  eyes  for  a  moment  upon  the  traitors,  and  then  re 
verting  to  his  friends,  "  both  ye  and  all  the  world  know 
we  came  hither  to  enjoy  the  liberty  of  our  conscience 
and  the  free  use  of  God's  ordinances,  and  for  that  end 
have  ventured  our  lives,  and  passed  through  much  hard 
ship  hitherto ;  and  we  and  our  friends  have  borne  the 
charge  of  these  beginnings,  which  has  not  been  small  "  — 

"  Spare  us  the  preamble,  I  beseech  you,  Master  Gov 
ernor,  and  come  to  the  root  of  the  matter.  Who  has 
disturbed  this  somewhat  sour-faced  liberty  and  peace  ye 
came  here  to  seek  ?  " 

The  insolence  of  the  tone  as  well  as  of  the  words 
stirred  even  Bradford's  chastened  temper,  and  turning 
upon  the  traitor  he  angrily  exclaimed,  — 

«  Who  ?  —  who  but  you,  John  Oldhame,  you  and  your 
followers  !  As  Nathan  said  to  David,  so  say  I  now  to 
you,  Thou  art  the  man  !  " 

The  stinging  contempt  of  the  tone  pierced  like  an 
arrow,  and  fairly  stammering  with  rage  the  rebel  sprang 
to  his  feet  and  made  for  the  governor,  but  Standish 
quietly  interposed  with  voice  and  presence,  — 

"  Best  be  seated,  Master  Oldhame  !  The  matter  has 
not  yet  come  to  a  passage  at  arms.  Sit  down  man,  sit 
down  ! " 

"  Yes,  Master  Oldhame,"  added  the  governor,  resum 
ing  his  usual  self-restraint  and  manner  of  voice,  "  this 
is  matter  for  sober  discussion  and  not  for  heated  wran 
gling."  Then  turning  to  the  people  he  continued  calmly: 

'*  It  is  well  known  not  only  to  these  but  to  you  all, 


30  BETTY  ALDEN. 

that  when  the  Charity  arrived  here  some  weeks  gone 
by  she  brought  letters  from  the  gentlemen  Adventurers, 
upon  whom  we  depend  for  aid  and  comfort,  demanding 
account  of  certain  ill  stories  that  had  traveled  home  by 
the  Anne,  partly  on  the  tongues  of  those  who,  daunted 
by  the  hardness  of  the  life  here,  went  back  as  soon  as 
they  might,  and  partly  in  letters  writ  by  those  Laodi- 
ceans  who  remained  with  us  but  are  not  of  us.  These 
tales  were  for  the  most  part  idle,  such  as  that  we  have 
no  grass  for  cattle  ;  no  wholesome  water  ;  that  salt  will 
not  cure  fish  here  ;  that  neither  fish  nor  wild  fowl  are 
to  be  found,  and  alas,  alas!  that  moskeetos  are  to  be 
found  both  in  our  fields  and  housen,  which,  indeed,  is  a 
plaint  we  may  not  deny. 

"  With  these  were  weightier  matters,  to  which  I,  with 
the  help  of  the  Assistants,  made  answer  as  seemed  good 
to  us,  as  that  we  have  neither  Sacrament  in  use,  to  which 
we  answer,  How  can  we  have  when  to  our  great  grief  our 
pastor,  Master  Robinson,  is  withholden  from  coming  to 
us,  and  no  worthy  minister  is  sent  to  supply  his  place  ? 
Next,  that  we  have  great  diversity  of  religious  belief, 
and  this  is  a  thing  never  heard  of  till  last  Lord's  Day. 
But  passing  sundry  other  matters  not  best  to  enter  upon 
now,  we  spoke  to  the  lighter  question,  saying  that 
although  we  do  not  contend  that  the  water  of  our 
springs  is  as  delightsome  as  the  beer  and  wine  these 
grumblers  so  sorely  missed,  it  is  as  good,  nay,  I  will  say 
it  is  better,  water  than  any  other  in  the  world,  so  far  as 
I  know  of  mine  own  experience.  As  for  the  lack  of 
grass,  we  replied,  Would  we  had  one  beast  for  every 
hundred  that  the  grass  would  fatten.  As  for  the  lack  of 
fish  and  fowl,  and  the  story  that  salt  would  not  cure  fish 
caught  in  these  waters,  we  did  but  ask.  What  is  it  brings 


THOU  ART  THE  MAN!  31 

so  many  sail  to  these  parts  year  by  year,  and  how  do 
they  carry  home  their  fish,  if  they  may  not  be  cured  ? 

'*  That  fish  may  not  be  salted  here  is  as  true  as  that 
no  ale  or  beer  can  be  kept  from  souring  in  London. 
That  we  have  thieves  among  us  of  late  is  sadly  true, 
but  if  none  were  bred  in  England  none  would  come 
hither,  and  as  all  men  know,  those  who  are  caught  have 
smarted  well  for  their  offense,  and  shall  do  so  still  more 
if  they  mend  not  their  manners. 

"But  as  for  the  moskeetos,  we  said,  They  were  matter 
of  such  sadness  and  weight  that  we  counseled  such  as 
cannot  endure  moskeeto  bites  to  stay  at  home,  at  least 
until  they  are  moskeeto  proof,  for  surely  they  are  all 
unfit  for  beginning  new  plantations,  and  must  leave  these 
emprises  to  hardier  men. 

u  Glad  am  I  to  offer  you  matter  of  mirth  and  cheerful 
ness  in  the  beginning,  brethren,  for  now  comes  a  tale  of 
more  serious  import. 

"  Knowing  that  they  who  could  write  thus  to  our 
friends  were  still  among  us,  it  was  but  reasonable  that 
we  who  stand  as  fathers  to  the  colony  should  seek  out 
who  they  were,  and  stop  the  mischief  before  it  grew  to 
larger  dimensions.  We  have  sought,  and  grieved  am  I  to 
say  we  have  found,  these  enemies  where  last  we  should 
have  looked  for  them. 

"  Master  John  Oldhame,  taking  passage  on  the  Anne 
with  his  family  and  his  following,  came  among  us  as  a 
stranger,  asking  at  the  first  no  more  than  permission  to 
settle  so  near  that  in  case  of  attack  from  Indians  he  might 
shelter  under  our  wing,  and  profit  by  our  countenance. 
We  heartily  bade  him  come  and  live  in  our  village, 
helped  him  to  build  housen  for  himself  and  his  people, 
portioned  him  a  plot  of  land,  aided  him  in  every  way 
that  he  desired,  and  gave  him  a  voice  in  our  assemblies. 


32  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  As  for  Master  Lyford,  he  was,  as  you  know,  sent 
over  at  the  company's  charges,  him  and  his  large  family, 
Master  Winslow  who  was  then  in  England  having  been 
wrought  upon  by  the  Adventurers  to  accept  him  as  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  and  fit  to  become  our  pastor. 
Arrived  here,  he  received  a  house,  a  double  portion  of 
food  and  stores,  a  man  to  serve  him  at  our  charge,  and 
all  such  honor  and  observance  as  we  knew  how  to  be 
stow,  although  we  determined  to  tarry  for  a  season 
before  accepting  him  as  our  minister  in  full.  But  now, 
how  have  these  two  carried  themselves  among  us  ?  Have 
they  repaid  love  with  love,  and  good  with  good  ?  or  has 
it  not  rather  been  after  the  fashion  of  the  hedgehog  in 
the  fable,  which  the  coney  in  a  bitter  cold  day  invited  to 
shelter  in  her  burrow,  which  at  first  was  meek  and  gen 
tle  enow,  but  anon  when  he  was  comforted  and  warm, 
thrust  out  his  prickles  and  so  vext  the  poor  coney  that 
in  the  end  it  was  she  who  was  thrust  out  into  the  cold." 

A  low  murmur  of  appreciation  followed  the  parable, 
and  Oldhame  once  more  sprang  to  his  feet,  while  Stan- 
dish  attentively  followed  every  movement. 

"So  far  as  I  can  gather  any  serious  meaning  from 
the  buffoonery  Master  Bradford  intends  for  wit,"  be 
gan  he,  "  I  take  it  that  he  accuseth  me  and  this  godly 
minister  of  treason  to  this  colony,  where  as  he  meanly 
reminds  us  we  have  received  certain  benefits,  for  the 
which  I  am  quite  ready  to  pay  "  — 

"  Shame  !     Shame  !  " 

"  Shame  as  much  as  you  will,  Alden  and  Soule,  Bart- 
lett  and  Prence  !  I  've  marked  you,  my  springalds,  but 
what  I  've  to  say  is  that  the  inditing  is  false  and  alto 
gether  malicious.  Neither  Lyford  nor  I  have  writ  any 
such  letters,  or  sent  any  such  message  now  or  ever.  Say 
you  not  so,  Master  Lyford  ?  " 


THOU  AET  THE  MAN!  33 

"Oh  verily,  verily,  good  gentlemen  all,  no  such  thought 
has  ever  "  — 

"There,  that  will  do,  man.  And  now  we  call  upon  you, 
Master  Governor,  for  any  warrant  you  may  have  for 
this  insult,  and  if  you  have  none,  we  demand  an  ample 
apology." 

"  You  positively  deny  writing  any  letters  of  com 
plaint  concerning  us  ?  "  asked  Bradford  deliberately. 

"  We  do." 

"  Master  Allerton,  be  pleased  to  bring  forth  the  papers 
you  hold  in  charge." 

Allerton,  his  crafty  face  illuminated  with  a  smile  of 
unusual  satisfaction,  brought  forward  a  small  table,  and 
placed  upon  it  some  twenty  or  thirty  letters,  carefully 
arranged  and  docketed,  in  his  neat  and  scholarly  script. 
Laying  his  hand  upon  the  papers,  Bradford  looked  at 
the  traitors  with  an  austere  sadness  significant  of  his 
just  yet  gentle  nature ;  then,  turning  to  the  people,  he 
related  how  by  the  advice  of  his  council  he  had  seized 
these  letters,  already  on  their  way  to  England,  and  with 
Winslow's  help  copied  the  most  of  them,  retaining,  how 
ever,  some  of  the  originals  with  which  to  confront  the 
writers  in  case  of  denial. 

But  as  the  governor  in  his  calm  and  judicial  voice 
made  this  announcement,  glancing  as  he  spoke  at  the 
documents  spread  out  upon  the  little  table,  Oldhame, 
furious  at  the  humiliating  discovery  of  his  lie,  started 
again  to  his  feet,  foaming  out  all  sorts  of  threats  and 
defiance,  and  threatening  indefinite  but  terrible  ven 
geance.  Finally  turning  to  the  benches  with  a  gesture 
almost  magnificent  in  its  reckless  abandon,  he  cried,  — 

"  My  masters,  where  are  your  hearts !  Now  is  the 
time  to  show  yourselves  men!  How  oft  have  you 


34  BETTY  ALDEN. 

groaned  in  my  ears  under  the  tyranny  of  these  oppres 
sors,  and  now  is  your  time  to  fling  off  the  yoke  !  Stand 
to  your  arms,  brethren  !  Make  a  move,  and  I  am  with 
you  !  " 

As  he  recognized  the  intent  of  this  seditious  appeal, 
Standish  sprang  forward,  his  hand  upon  his  sword's  hilt, 
but  Bradford,  without  rising,  made  a  slight  repressive 
gesture,  and  ran  his  eye  quickly  over  the  ranks  of  faces 
confronting  him,  marking  the  expression  on  each. 

A  few,  notably  Billington's,  Hicks's,  Hopkins's,  and 
some  of  the  new-comers',  wore  an  anxious,  a  sheepish, 
or  a  frightened  air,  combined  in  two  or  three  cases 
with  truculence,  and  in  others  with  doubt,  but  the  great 
body  of  the  freemen  met  the  eye  of  their  governor  with 
cordial  sympathy  and  reassurance,  and  although  no  man 
stirred,  several  handled  their  weapons  and  looked  around 
them  with  an  eagerness  boding  ill  for  the  traitors  should 
they  proceed  to  extremity. 

Oldhame  also  reviewed  the  fourscore  faces  arrayed 
before  him,  and  was  quick  to  perceive  and  accept  his 
defeat. 

"  Ye  coward  dogs !  Crouch  under  your  master's  lash 
till  it  cut  your  hearts  out !  What  is  it  to  me  or  mine !  " 

The  bitter  words  ground  between  his  teeth  reached 
no  ears  but  those  of  Lyford,  upon  whom,  as  he  sank 
cowering  back  upon  the  bench,  Bradford  next  turned 
his  eyes  demanding,  — 

"  What  is  your  opinion,  Master  Lyford,  upon  this 
question  of  opening  another's  letters  ?  " 

The  ex-minister  started  as  if  stung  by  the  lash  of  a 
whip,  passed  his  hand  across  his  trembling  lips,  and 
stammered,  — 

"I  —  I  —  I  meant  no  harm.     I  "  — 


THOU  AET  THE  MAN!  35 

"  Master  Lyford  answers  the  accusation  of  his  own 
conscience  rather  than  my  question,"  said  Bradford  se 
renely,  as  the  quavering  voice  trailed  away  into  silence. 
"  The  matter  in  his  mind  is  this  :  When  our  brother,  Ed 
ward  Winslow,  was  about  sailing  out  of  England  in  the 
Charity,  bringing  with  him  this  man  who  had  been 
pushed  upon  him  as  a  worthy  substitute  for  our  own  re 
vered  pastor,  he  writ  with  his  own  hand  to  Master  Rob 
inson  an  account  of  the  matter,  with  sundry  other  things 
touching  the  spiritual  and  temporal  concerns  of  the 
company.  This  letter  he  sealed,  addressed,  and  left  ly 
ing  in  his  state  cabin,  along  with  sundry  others,  some  of 
his  own  inditing,  and  some  intrusted  to  him  by  friends, 
to  convey  hither.  One  of  these  was  from  a  well-known 
English  gentleman  to  Elder  Brewster,  and  bore  both 
names  upon  the  cover. 

"  Master  Winslow's  affairs  calling  him  back  to  London 
before  the  sailing  of  the  vessel,  he  left  all  these  letters 
in  his  writing-case  under  charge  of  Master  Lyford,  who 
used  the  same  cabin.  But  no  sooner  was  Winslow's 
back  turned  than  Master  Lyford,  opening  the  chest  with 
keys  of  his  own,  read  the  letters,  and  made  copies  of 
the  two  mentioned,  telling  under  his  own  hand  how  he 
obtained  them.  These  copies  he  brought  hither,  and 
now  is  sending  them  back  into  England  by  the  Charity, 
and  small  charity  of  the  godly  sort  doth  he  show  in 
his  comments  inclosed  with  the  copies  to  one  of  our 
most  powerful  and  unloving  opponents  among  the  Ad 
venturers. 

"  And  why  hath  he  done  this  ?  Not  to  fulfill  a  heavy 
and  painful  duty,  and  to  protect  a  people  and  an  em 
prise  laid  upon  him  by  Almighty  God,  even  as  the  chil 
dren  of  Israel  were  laid  upon  the  shoulders  of  Moses 


36  BETTY  ALDEN. 

until  he  all  but  sank  beneath  the  weight !  No,  Master 
Lyford  can  plead  no  such  necessity  for  the  opening  and 
reading  of  letters  writ  and  sealed  by  one  who  trusted 
him,  but  rather  his  motive  seems  to  have  been  the  de 
sire  of  doing  despite  to  his  benefactors,  and  of  working 
mischief  and  destruction  to  them  who  have  never  done 
him  other  than  kindness,  trusting  and  befriending  him 
as  one  of  themselves. 

"  And  now,  Master  Allerton,  I  will  ask  you  to  read 
out  these  letters,  and  any  who  will  may  draw  near  and 
look  at  the  originals  signed  both  by  John  Oldhame  and 
John  Lyford." 

The  letters  were  read,  and  as  page  after  page  of  Ly- 
ford's  malignant  treachery,  and  Oldhame's  fierce  vituper 
ation  was  turned,  murmurs  of  indignation,  ominous  mut- 
terings,  with  here  and  there  a  groan  or  a  faint  hiss  arose 
from  the  benches,  especially  when  the  freemen  heard  it 
recommended  that  the  Adventurers  should,  as  soon  as 
possible,  send  a  body  of  men  "  to  over-sway  those  here  ;  " 
that  they  should  at  all  risks  prevent  Pastor  Robinson's 
coming,  and  should,  if  possible,  depose  Winslow  from 
his  position  as  agent.  Again  a  subdued  commotion  was 
excited  by  the  advice  to  send  over  a  certain  captain,  who 
had  apparently  been  previously  mentioned,  with  the 
promise  that  he  should  at  once  be  chosen  military  leader, 
"  for  this  Captaine  Standish  looks  like  a  silly  boy,  and  is 
in  utter  contempt." 

In  hearing  this  philippic  many  an  eye  was  turned 
upon  its  subject,  but  he,  standing  at  ease  with  one  hand 
upon  Gideon's  hilt,  only  gathered  his  beard  in  the  other 
fist  and  smiled  good-humoredly.  He  at  least  was  "  mos- 
keeto-proof." 

"  And  now,  men,"  demanded  the  governor,  turning  to 


THOU  AET  THE  MAN  !  37 

the  people,  "  what  have  you  to  say  ?  Let  any  one  who 
would  make  a  proposal  as  to  our  dealing  with  these  two 
speak  his  mind  freely." 

But  before  any  other  could  reply  to  this  demand,  Ly- 
ford,  breaking  away  from  Oldhame's  fierce  restraint,  fell 
upon  his  knees,  bursting  into  tears  and  sobs,  wringing 
his  hands,  and  cringing  to  the  floor,  while  he  howled  out 
all  sorts  of  self-accusations,  calling  himself  a  miserable 
sinner,  "  unsavorie  salt,"  Judas,  and  many  other  oppro 
brious  epithets,  doubting,  as  he  professed,  if  God  would 
ever  pardon  him,  and  in  any  case  despairing  of  the  for 
giveness  of  his  benefactors  and  hosts,  for  he  had  so 
wronged  them  as  to  pass  all  forgiveness.  Finally,  he 
confessed  in  the  most  abject  terms  that  "  all  he  had 
writ  against  them  was  false  and  naught,  both  for  matter 
and  manner,"  and  professed  himself  willing  and  anxious 
to  retract  everything  in  the  presence  of  God,  angels, 
and  men. 

But  the  scene  was  soon  cut  short,  for  the  self-respect 
ing  men  who  listened  to  this  abjection  found  it  too  great 
a  humiliation  of  the  divine  image  in  man,  and  while 
the  culprit  still  sobbed  and  whined  at  his  feet,  the  gov 
ernor,  briefly  ordering  him  to  rise  and  be  silent,  turned 
to  the  people  and  repeated  his  demand  for  their  suf 
frages. 

A  brief  discussion  ensued,  chiefly  among  the  elders, 
the  younger  men  signifying  their  assent  or  dissent  by  a 
word  or  two,  and  Bradford,  listening  to  all,  watching  the 
expression  of  all,  and  gathering  the  sense  of  the  assem 
bly  as  much  by  intuition  as  from  spoken  words,  at  last 
announced  that  the  Court  of  the  People  found  these 
two  men  guilty  of  the  offenses  with  which  they  stood 
charged,  and  were  decided  to  banish  them  from  the  set- 


38  BETTY  ALDEN. 

tlement  as  dangerous  to  its  safety.  A  murmur  of  as 
sent  ratified  this  decision,  and  the  details  arranged  by 
the  governor  and  council  were  unanimously  accepted. 
Oldhame  was  to  depart  at  once,  while  his  family  had 
permission  to  remain  until  he  could  find  a  comfortable 
home  for  them,  and  then  rejoin  him  without  his  coming 
to  fetch  them. 

As  for  Lyford,  his  retraction  and  professions  of  con 
trition  had  their  effect,  especially  with  the  doctor,  whose 
earnest  appeals  for  indulgence  finally  procured  permis 
sion  for  the  penitent  to  remain  in  the  village  for  six 
months  on  probation,  his  sentence  then  either  to  be 
acted  upon  or,  in  case  his  repentance  should  prove  sin 
cere,  to  possibly  be  altogether  remitted. 

The  two  culprits  received  their  sentence  very  differ 
ently,  yet  very  characteristically.  Oldhame,  breathing 
fire  and  fury,  departed  from  the  Fort  at  once  in  a  blue 
flame  of  profanity  and  vituperation,  and  before  night 
set  sail  for  Nantasket  to  join  the  Gorges  men  settled  in 
that  neighborhood. 

But  the  meaner  traitor  could  hardly  be  persuaded  to 
stand  upon  his  feet,  preferring  to  grovel  at  those  of  his 
judges,  who  for  the  most  part  received  his  demonstra 
tions  very  coldly,  Bradford  suggesting,  as  he  twisted 
away  the  hand  Lyford  was  moistly  kissing,  — 

"  There  's  a  homely  old  proverb,  master,  which  you 
might  do  well  to  recall:  'Actions  speak  louder  than 
words.' " 

"  And  still  another,"  broke  in  John  Alden,  "  says  that 
1  Promises  butter  no  parsnips.'  " 

Thus  ended  the  first  trial  for  treason  in  America,  and 
so  was  decided  the  most  important  cause  ever  brought 
before  the  Court  of  the  People,  a  tribunal  soon  to  be 
replaced  by  the  trial  by  jury. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HOW  MISTRESS  ALICE    BRADFORD    INTRODUCED    HER  SIS 
TER  PRISCILLA  CARPENTER  TO  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY. 

"  GOODMAN,  I  Ve  heavy  news  for  you ;  so  set  your 
mind  to  bear  it  as  best  you  may." 

"  Nay,  goodwife,  your  winsome  face  is  no  herald  of 
bad  news,  and  certes,  I  '11  not  cross  the  bridge  until  it 
comes  in  sight." 

"  Well,  then,  since  words  won't  daunt  you,  here  's  a 
fact,  sir  !  We  are  to  have  a  merry-making,  and  gather 
all  the  young  folk  of  the  village,  and  Master  Bradford 
will  have  to  lay  off  the  governor's  mantle  of  thought  and 
worry,  that  he  may  be  jocund  with  the  rest." 

"  Nay,  then,  Alice,  't  is  indeed  heavy  news  !  "  And 
the  governor  pulled  a  long  face,  and  looked  mock-misera 
ble  with  all  his  might.  "  And  is  it  a  dispensation  not 
to  be  gainsaid  ?  Is  there  good  cause  that  we  should 
submit  ourselves  to  an  affliction  that  might,  as  it  would 
seem,  be  spared  ?  " 

"  Well,  dear,  you  know  that  my  sister  Pris  has 
come  "  — 

"  Do  you  tell  me  so  !  Now  there  is  news  in  very  deed  ! 
And  how  did  Mistress  Priscilla  Carpenter  reach  these 
parts  ?  " 

"  Now,  Will !  if  you  torment  me  so,  I  '11  e'en  call  in 
Priscilla  Alden  to  take  my  part.  She  'II  give  you  quip 
for  crank,  I  '11  warrant  me." 


40  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Nay,  nay,  wife,  I  '11  be  meek  and  good  as  your  cosset 
lamb,  so  you  '11  keep  me  under  your  own  hand.  Come 
now,  let  us  meet  this  enemy  face  to  face.  What  is  it 
all  ?  " 

Alice,  who,  tender  soul  that  she  was,  loved  not  even 
playful  and  mock  contention,  sighed  a  little,  and  folding 
her  hands  in  her  lap  gently  said,  — 

"  It  is  all  just  as  thou  pleasest,  Will,  but  my  thought 
was  to  call  together  all  the  young  people  and  make  a 
little  feast  to  bring  those  acquainted  with  Pris,  who, 
poor  maid,  has  found  it  a  trifle  dull  and  straitened  here, 
after  leaving  her  merry  young  friends  in  England." 

"  Ever  thinking  of  giving  pleasure  to  others  even  at 
cost  of  much  toil  to  thyself,  sweetheart !  "  And  the  gov 
ernor,  placing  a  hand  under  his  wife's  round  chin,  raised 
her  face  and  kissed  it  tenderly  again  and  again,  until  the 
soft  pink  flushed  to  the  roots  of  the  fair  hair. 

"Do  as  thou  wilt,  darling,  in  this  and  everything, 
and  call  upon  me  for  what  thy  men  and  maids  cannot 
accomplish." 

"  Nay,  I  've  help  enough.  Christian  Penn  is  equal  to 
two  women,  and  sister  Pris  herself  is  very  notable. 
Then  Priscilla  Alden  will  kindly  put  her  hand  to  some 
of  the  dainty  dishes,  and  she  is  a  wonder  at  cooking,  as 
you  know." 

"  Yes,  she  proved  it  in  —  early  days,"  interrupted 
Bradford,  the  smile  fading  off  his  face.  "  Had  it  not 
been  for  her  skill  in  putting  a  savory  touch  to  the  coarsest 
food,  I  believe  some  of  our  sick  folk  would  have 
died,  —  I  am  sure  Dame  Brewster  would." 

"  Oh,  you  poor  souls  !  How  you  suffered,  and  I  there 
in  England  eating  and  drinking  of  the  best,  and  —  oh, 
Will,  you  should  have  married  good  dear  Priscilla  to  re 
ward  her  care  of  what  I  held  so  carelessly." 


PRISCILLA  IN  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY.         41 

"  Wonderful  logic,  madam  !  I  should,  to  reward  Mis 
tress  Molines  for  her  care,  have  married  her,  when  she 
loved  another  man,  and  I  another  woman,  which  latter 
was  to  thus  be  punished  for  carelessness  in  a  matter  she 
knew  naught  about !  " 

And  with  a  tender  little  laugh,  the  governor  pressed 
another  kiss  upon  his  wife's  smooth  cheek,  before  he  went 
out  to  his  fields,  while  she  flew  at  once  to  her  kitchen  and 
set  the  domestic  engine  throbbing  at  double-quick  time. 
Then  she  stepped  up  the  hill  to  John  Alden's  house,  and 
found  Priscilla,  her  morning  work  already  done,  wash 
ing  and  dressing  her  little  Betty,  while  John  and  Jo 
watched  the  operation  with  unflagging  interest. 

"  Come  and  help  you,  Alice  ?  I  shall  be  gay  and  glad 
to  do  it,  dear,  just  as  soon  as  Betty  is  in  her  cradle,  and 
I  have  told  Mary-a-Becket  what  to  do  about  the  noon- 
meat.  John,  you  and  Jo  run  up  the  hill  to  the  cap 
tain's,  and  ask  Mistress  Standish  if  Alick  and  Myles 
may  come  down  and  play  with  you  in  front  of  the  gov 
ernor's  house  so  I  may  keep  an  eye  on  you." 

"  Two  fine  boys,  those  of  Barbara's,"  said  the  gov 
ernor's  wife,  and  then  affectionately,  "  yet  no  finer  than 
your  sturdy  little  knaves." 

"  Oh,  ours  are  well  enough  for  little  yeomen,  but  the 
captain  says  his  Alick  is  heir  to  a  great  estate,  and  is  a 
gentleman  born !  "  And  the  two  young  women  laughed 
good-naturedly,  while  Priscilla  laid  her  baby  in  the  cra 
dle,  and  Alice  turned  toward  the  door  saying,  "  Well,  I 
must  be  at  home  to  mind  the  maids." 

"  And  I  '11  be  there  anon.  I  trust  you  've  good  store 
of  milk  and  cream.  We  did  well  enow  without  it  for 
four  years,  but  now  we  Ve  had  it  for  a  while,  one  might 
as  well  be  dead  as  lack  it," 


42  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  I  've  plenty,  and  butter  beside,  both  Dutch  and 
fresh,"  replied  Alice  from  outside  the  door,  and  in  an 
other  ten  minutes  the  wide  kitchen  recently  added  to 
William  Bradford's  house  on  the  corner  of  Leyden 
Street  and  the  King's  Highway,  now  called  Main  Street, 
hummed  again  with  the  merry  sounds  of  youthful 
voices,  of  the  whisking  of  eggs,  and  grinding  of  spices, 
arid  stirring  of  golden  compounds  in  wooden  bowls,  and 
chopping  suet,  and  stoning  raisins,  and  slicing  citron,  and 
the  clatter  of  pewter  dishes,  which,  by  the  way,  with 
wooden  ware  were  nearly  all  the  "  pottery  "  the  Pilgrims 
possessed,  hypothetical  teapots  and  china  cups  to  the  con 
trary  ;  for,  since  we  all  know  that  tea  and  coffee  were 
never  heard  of  in  England  until  about  the  year  1666, 
and  the  former  herb  was  sold  for  many  years  after  at 
from  ten  to  fifteen  dollars  per  pound  (Pepys  in  1671 
mentions  it  as  a  strange  and  barbaric  beverage  just  in 
troduced),  it  is  improbable  that  either  tea,  teapot,  or  tea 
cups  ever  reached  America  until  after  Mary  Allerton, 
the  last  survivor  of  the  Mayflower,  rested  upon  Burying 
Hill. 

All  that  day  and  part  of  the  next  the  battle  raged  in 
the  Bradford  kitchen,  for  delicate  appetites  were  in 
those  times  rather  a  defect  than  a  grace,  and  hospitality 
largely  consisted  in  first  providing  great  quantities  and 
many  varieties  of  food,  and  then  over-pressing  the 
guests  to  partake  of  it.  An  "  afternoon  tea  "  with  di 
aphanous  bread  and  butter,  wafer  cakes,  and  Cambridge 
salts,  as  the  only  solid  refreshment,  would  have  seemed 
to  Alice  Bradford  and  her  guests  either  a  comic  pre 
tense  or  a  niggardly  insult,  and  very  different  was  the 
feast  to  which  as  many  as  could  sat  down  at  a  very 
early  hour  of  the  evening  of  the  second  day. 


PRISCILLA  IN  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY.        43 

The  company  was  large,  for  in  the  good  Old  Colony 
fashion  it  included  both  married  and  single  persons,  and 
would,  if  possible,  have  made  no  distinctions  of  age  or 
position,  but  this  catholicity  had  in  the  growth  of  the 
colony  become  impossible,  and  Mistress  Bradford's  in 
vitations  were,  with  much  searching  of  spirit  and  desire 
to  avoid  offense,  confined  principally  to  young  persons, 
married  and  unmarried,  likely  to  become  associates  of 
her  sister  Priscilla,  a  fair-haired,  sweet-lipped,  and  dain 
tily  colored  lass,  reproducing  Dame  Alice's  own  early 
charms. 

"  The  Brewster  girls  must  come,  although  I  cannot 
yet  be  reconciled  to  Fear's  having  married  Isaac  Aller- 
ton,  and  calling  herself  mother  to  Bart,  and  Mary  and 
Remember  —  great  grown  girls  !  "  exclaimed  the  host 
ess  in  consultation  with  her  husband,  and  he  pleasantly 
replied,  — 

"  Oh,  well,  dame,  we  must  not  hope  to  guide  all  the 
world  by  our  own  wisdom ;  and  certes,  if  Fear's  mar 
riage  is  a  little  incongruous,  her  sister  Patience  is  well 
and  fitly  mated  with  Thomas  Prence.  It  does  one  good 
to  see  such  a  comely  and  contented  pair  of  wedded 
sweethearts." 

"  True  enough,  Will,  and  your  thought  is  a  rebuke  to 
mine." 

"  Nay,  wife,  'tis  you  that  teach  me  to  be  charitable." 

And  the  two,  come  together  to  reap  in  the  glorious  St. 
Martin's  summer  of  their  days  the  harvest  sown  amid  the 
chill  tears  of  spring,  looked  in  each  other's  eyes  with  a 
smile  of  deep  content.  The  woman  was  the  first  to  set 
self  aside,  and  cried,  — 

"  Come,  come,  Sir  Governor !  To  business  !  Mistress 
Allerton,  and  her  daughters,  Mary  and  Remember,  Bar- 


44  BETTY  ALDEN. 

tholomew,  and  the  Prences,  Constance  Hopkins  with 
Nicholas  Snow,  whom  she  will  many,  the  Aldens,  the 
captain  and  his  wife  "  — 

"  He  is  hardly  to  be  ranked  with  the  young  folk,  is 
he  ?  " 

"  No,  dear,  no  more  than  Master  Allerton,  or,  for  that 
matter,  the  governor  and  his  old  wife  ;  but  there,  there, 
no  more  waste  of  time,  sir !  Who  else  is  to  come,  and 
who  to  be  left  at  home  ?  " 

"  Nay,  wife,  I  'm  out  of  my  depth  already  and  will 
e'en  get  back  to  firm  land,  which  means  I  leave  all  to 
your  discretion.  Call  Barbara  and  Priscilla  Alden  to 
council,  and  let  me  know  in  time  to  put  on  my  new 
green  doublet  and  hose,  for  I  suppose  I  am  to  don 
them." 

"  Indeed  you  are,  and  your  ruffles  and  your  silk  stock 
ings  that  I  brought  over.  I  will  not  let  you  live  alto 
gether  in  hodden  gray,  since  even  the  Elder  goes  soberly 
fine  on  holidays." 

"Well,  well,  I  leave  it  all  to  you,  and  must  betake 
myself  to  the  woods.  Good-by  for  a  little." 

"  Good-by,  dear." 

And  as  the  governor  with  an  axe  on  his  shoulder 
strode  away  down  Market  Street  and  across  the  brook 
to  Watson's  Hill,  Dame  Alice,  a  kerchief  over  her  head, 
once  more  ran  up  the  hill  to  Priscilla  Alden's. 

As  the  great  gun  upon  the  hill  boomed  out  the  sunset 
hour,  and  Captain  Standish  himself  carefully  covered  it 
from  the  dews  of  night,  Alice  Bradford  stood  in  the 
great  lower  room  of  her  house  and  looked  about  her. 
All  was  done  that  could  be  done  to  put  the  place  in  fes 
tal  array,  and  although  the  fair  dame  sighed  a  little  at 
the  remembrance  of  her  stately  home  in  Duke's  Place, 


PBISCILLA  IN  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY.        45 

London,  with  its  tapestries  and  carvings  and  carpets 
and  pictures,  she  bravely  put  aside  the  regret,  and  affec 
tionately  smoothed  and  patted  the  fine  damask  "cub- 
board  cloth"  covering  the  lower  shelf  of  the  sideboard, 
or,  as  she  called  it,  the  "  buffet,"  at  one  side  of  the 
room,  and  placed  and  replaced  the  precious  properties 
set  out  thereon  :  — 

A  silver  wine  cup,  a  porringer  that  had  been  her 
mother's,  nine  silver  teaspoons,  and,  crown  of  all,  four 
genuine  Venetian  wine-glasses,  tall  and  twisted  of  stem, 
gold-threaded  and  translucent  of  bowl,  fragile  and  dainty 
of  shape,  and  yet,  like  their  as  dainty  owner,  brave  to 
make  the  pilgrimage  from  the  home  of  luxury  and  art 
to  the  wilderness,  where  a  shelter  from  the  weather  and 
a  scant  supply  of  the  coarsest  food  was  all  to  be  hoped 
for. 

But  Dame  Bradford,  fingering  her  Venice  glasses,  and 
softly  smiling  at  the  touch,  murmured  to  herself  and  to 
them,  "  'T  is  our  exceeding  gain." 

"  What,  Elsie,  not  dressed !  *'  cried  Priscilla  Carpen 
ter's  blithe  voice,  as  that  young  lady,  running  down  the 
stairs  leading  to  her  little  loft  chamber,  presented  her 
self  to  her  sister's  inspection  with  a  smile  of  conscious 
deserving. 

"  My  word,  Pris,  but  you  are  fine  !  "  exclaimed  Dame 
Alice,  examining  with  an  air  of  unwilling  admiration  the 
young  girl's  gay  apparel  and  ornaments.  It  was  indeed 
a  pretty  dress,  consisting  of  a  petticoat  of  cramoisie  satin, 
quilted  in  an  elaborate  pattern  of  flowers,  leaves,  and 
birds ;  an  open  skirt  of  brocade  turned  back  from  the 
front,  and  caught  high  upon  the  hips  with  great  bunches 
of  cramoisie  ribbons ;  a  "  waistcoat "  of  the  satin,  and  a 
little  open  jacket  of  the  brocade.  Around  the  soft  white 


46  BETTY  ALDEN. 

throat  of  the  wearer  was  loosely  knotted  a  satin  cravat 
of  the  same  dull  red  tint  with  the  skirt,  edged  with  a 
deep  lace,  upon  which  Alice  Bradford  at  once  laid  a 
practiced  finger. 

"  Pris,  that  jabot  is  of  Venise  point !  Where  did  you 
get  it?" 

"  Ah  !    That  was  a  present  from  "  — 

"  Well,  from  whom  ?  " 

"Nay,  never  look  so  cross  on  't,  my  lady  sister! 
Might  not  I  have  a  sweetheart  as  well  as  you  ?  " 

"  Priscilla,  I  'm  glad  you  're  here  rather  than  with 
those  gay  friends  of  yours  in  London.  I  suppose  Lady 
Judith  Carr  or  her  daughters  gave  you  these  clothes,  did 
they  not  ?  " 

u  Well,  I  earned  them  hard  enough  putting  up  with 
all  my  lady's  humors  and  the  girls'  jealous  fancies," 
pouted  Pris.  "  I  was  glad  enough  when  you  and  brother 
Will  wrote  and  offered  me  a  home,  —  not  but  what 
Lady  Judith  was  good  to  me  and  called  me  her  daugh 
ter  ;  but,  Elsie,  't  was  not  they  who  gave  me  the  laced 
cravat,  't  was  —  't  was  "  — 

"  Well,  out  with  it,  little  sister !  Who  was  it,  if  not 
our  mother's  old  friend  ?  " 

"  Why,  Elsie,  't  was  a  noble  gentleman  that  I  met 
with  them  down  at  Bath,  and  —  sister  —  he  is  coming 
over  here  to  marry  me  right  soon." 

"  Nay,  then,  but  that 's  news  indeed  !  And  what  may 
be  his  name,  pet  ?  " 

';  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner,  and  he  's  a  Knight  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre." 

And  Pris,  fondling  the  lace  of  her  cravat,  smiled 
proudly  into  her  sister's  astonished  face ;  but  before 
either  could  speak,  Barbara  Standish  and  Priscilla 


PRISCILLA  IN  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY.        47 

Alden  appeared  at  the  open  door,  the  latter  exclaiming 
in  her  blithe  voice,  — 

"  What,  Alice,  still  in  your  workaday  kirtle  !  Barbara 
and  I  came  thus  betimes  to  see  if  aught  remained  that 
we  might  do  before  the  folk  gather." 

"  Thank  you,  both ;  I  —  I  —  nay,  then,  I  'm  a  little 
put  about,  dear  friends  ;  I  hardly  know,  —  well,  well ! 
Priscilla  Carpenter,  come  you  into  my  bedroom  and  help 
me  do  on  my  clothes,  and  if  you  two  will  look  about  and 
see  what  is  ready  and  what  is4acking,  I  shall  be  more 
than  grateful.  Come,  Pris  !  " 

"  Something  has  chanced  more  than  we  know  about !  " 
suggested  Priscilla  Alden,  as  the  bedroom  door  closed 
behind  the  sisters. 

"  Likely.  But  't  is  their  affair  and  not  ours,"  replied 
Barbara  quietly.  "  Now  let  us  see.  Would  you  set  open 
the  case  holding  the  twelve  ivory-handled  knives  ?  " 

"  Yes,  they  're  a  rarity,  and  some  of  the  folk  may  not 
have  seen  them.  Alice  says  that  in  London  they  put  a 
knife  to  every  man's  trencher  now,  and  nobody  uses  his 
own  sheath-knife  as  has  been  the  wont." 

"  You  tell  me  so  !  Well,  one  knife  's  enough  for 
Myles  and  me,  yes,  and  the  boys  to  boot.  But  then  I 
cut  the  meat  in  morsels,  and  spread  the  bread  with  but 
ter,  or  ever  it  goes  on  the  table." 

"  Of  course  ;  so  we  all  do,  I  suppose.  Well  there,  all 
is  ready  now,  and  here  come  the  folk  ;  there  's  Patty 
Brewster,  or  Patience  Prence  as  she  must  now  be  called, 
and  along  with  her  Fear  Allerton  and  Remember  and 
Mary,  —  her  daughters  indeed  !  Marry  come  up  ! 
/  might  have  had  Isaac  Allerton  for  myself,  but "  — 

u  And  there  is  Constance  Hopkins,  and  Nicholas 
Snow,"  interrupted  Barbara,  who  was  a  deadly  foe  to 


48  BETTY  ALDEN. 

gossip,  "  and  John  and  Elizabeth  Rowland  ;  then  there  's 
Stephen  Dean  with  Betsey  Ring,  and  Edward  Bangs  and 
Lyddy  Hicks,  and  Mary  Warren  and  Robert  Bartlett, 
three  pair  of  sweethearts  together,  and  here  they  all  are 
at  the  door." 

But  as  the  more  lively  Priscilla  ran  to  open  it,  the 
governor's  hearty  voice  was  heard  without,  crying,  — 

"  Welcome  !  Welcome,  friends  !  I  was  called  out  for 
a  moment,  but  have  come  home  just  in  the  nick  of  time 
and  brought  the  captain  with  me." 

"  Now  I  do  hope  Myles  has  put  on  his  ruff,  and  his 
other  doublet  that  I  laid  out,"  murmured  Barbara  in 
Priscilla's  ear.  "  When  the  governor  and  he  get  to 
gether,  the  world  's  well  lost  for  both  of  them." 

"  Nay,  he  's  all  right,  and  a  right  proper  man,  as  he 
always  was,"  returned  Priscilla,  with  a  quick  glance  at 
the  square  figure  and  commanding  head  of  the  Cap 
tain  of  Plymouth,  as  he  entered  the  room  and  smiled  in 
courtly  fashion  at  Dame  Bradford's  greeting. 

"  And  here  's  your  John,  a  head  and  shoulders  above 
all  the  rest,"  added  Barbara  good-naturedly,  as  Alden, 
the  Saxon  giant,  strode  into  the  room  and  looked  fondly 
across  it  at  his  wife. 

Another  half  hour  and  all  were  gathered  about  the 
three  long  tables  improvised  from  boards  and  barrels, 
but  all  covered  with  the  fine  napery  brought  from  Hol 
land  by  Alice  Bradford,  who  had  the  true  housewife's 
love  of  elegant  damask,  and  during  Edward  South- 
worth's  life  was  able  to  indulge  it,  laying  up  such  store 
of  table  damask,  of  fine  Holland  "  pillowbers  "  *  and 
"  cubboard  cloths,"  towels  of  Holland,  of  dowlas,  and  of 
lockorum,  and  sheets  of  various  qualities  from  "  fine  Hol- 
1  Pillow-biers,  now  called  pillow-cases. 


PEISCILLA  IN  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY.        49 

land  "  to  tow  (the  latter  probably  spun  and  woven  at 
home),  that  the  inventory  of  her  personal  estate  is  as 
good  reading  to  her  descendants  as  a  cookery  book  to  a 
hungry  man. 

Plenty  of  trenchers  both  of  pewter  and  wood  lined 
the  table,  and  by  each  lay  a  napkin  and  a  spoon,  but 
neither  knives  nor  forks,  the  latter  implement  not  hav 
ing  yet  been  invented,  except  in  the  shape  of  a  powerful 
trident  to  lift  the  boiled  beef  from  the  kettle,  while  table 
knives,  as  Priscilla  Alden  had  intimated,  were  still  re 
garded  as  curious  implements  of  extreme  luxury.  A 
knife  of  a  different  order,  sometimes  a  clasp-knife,  some 
times  a  sheath-knife,  or  even  a  dagger,  was  generally 
carried  by  each  man,  and  used  upon  certain  pieces  de 
resistance,  such  as  boar's  head,  a  roasted  peacock,  a 
shape  of  brawn,  a  powdered  and  cloved  and  browned 
ham,  or  such  other  triumphs  of  the  culinary  art  as  must 
be  served  whole. 

Such  dishes  were  carried  around  the  table,  and  every 
guest,  taking  hold  of  the  morsel  he  coveted  with  his 
napkin,  sliced  it  off  with  his  own  knife,  displaying  the 
elegance  of  his  table  manners  by  the  skill  with  which 
he  did  it.  But  as  saffron  was  a  favorite  condiment  of 
the  day,  and  pearline  was  not  yet  invented,  one  sighs  in 
contemplating  the  condition  of  these  napkins,  and  ceases 
to  wonder  at  the  store  of  them  laid  up  by  thrifty  house 
keepers. 

Ordinarily,  however,  the  meat  was  divided  into  mor 
sels  before  appearing  on  the  table,  and  thus  was  easily 
managed  with  the  spoon,  —  or  with  the  fingers. 

Between  each  two  plates  stood  a  pewter  or  wooden 
basin  of  clam  chowder,  prepared  by  Priscilla  Alden,  who 
was  held  in  Plymouth  to  possess  a  magic  touch  for  this 
and  several  other  dishes. 


50  BETTY  ALDEN. 

From  these  each  guest  transferred  a  portion  to  his 
own  plate,  except  when  two  supped  merrily  from  the 
same  bowl  in  token  of  friendly  intimacy.  This  first 
course  finished  and  the  bowls  removed,  all  eyes  turned 
upon  the  governor,  who  rose  in  his  place  at  the  head  of 
the  principal  table,  where  were  gathered  the  more  im 
portant  guests,  and,  looking  affectionately  up  and  down 
the  board,  said,  — 

"  Friends,  it  hardly  needs  that  I  should  say  that  you 
are  welcome,  for  I  see  none  that  are  ever  less  than  wel 
come  beneath  this  roof ;  but  I  well  may  thank  you  for 
the  cheer  your  friendly  faces  bring  to  my  heart  to-night, 
and  I  well  may  pray  you,  of  your  goodness,  to  bestow 
upon  my  young  sister  here  the  same  hearty  kindness 
you  have  ever  shown  to  me  and  mine."  A  murmur  of 
eager  assent  went  round  the  board,  and  the  governor 
smiled  cordially,  as  he  grasped  in  both  hands  the 
great  two-handled  loving-cup  standing  before  him,  —  a 
grand  cup,  a  noble  cup,  of  the  measure  of  two  quarts,  of 
purest  silver,  beautifully  fashioned,  and  richly  carved, 
as  tradition  said,  by  the  hand  of  Benvenuto  Cellini 
himself  ;  so  precious  a  property  that  Katharine  White, 
daughter  of  an  English  bishop,  was  proud  to  bring 
it  as  almost  her  sole  dowry  to  John  Carver,  her  hus 
band.  With  him  it  came  to  the  New  World,  and 
was  used  at  the  Feast  of  Treaty  between  the  colonists 
and  Massasoit,  chief  of  the  native  owners  of  the  soil. 
Katharine  Carver,  dying  broken  hearted  six  weeks  after 
her  husband,  bequeathed  the  cup  to  William  Bradford, 
his  successor  in  the  arduous  post  of  Governor  of  the 
Colony,  and  from  him  it  passed  down  into  that  Hades  of 
lost  and  all  but  forgotten  treasures,  which  may,  for 
aught  we  know,  become  the  recreation-ground  for  the 
spirits  of  antiquarians. 


PEISCILLA  IN  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY.        51 

Filled  to  the  brim  with  generous  Canary,  a  pure  and 
fine  wine  in  those  days,  it  crowned  the  table,  and  Wil 
liam  Bradford,  steadily  raising  it  to  his  lips,  smiled 
gravely  upon  his  guests,  adding  to  his  little  speech  of 
welcome,  — 

"  I  pledge  you  my  hearty  good-will,  friends  !  "  then 
drank  sincerely  yet  modestly,  and  giving  one  handle  to 
Myles  Standish,  who  sat  at  his  left  hand,  he  retained  his 
hold  at  the  other  side  while  the  captain  drank,  and  in 
his  turn  gave  one  handle  to  Mistress  Winslow,  who  came 
next,  and  so,  all  standing  to  honor  the  pledge  of  love 
and  good-will,  the  cup  passed  round  the  board  and  came 
to  Elder  Brewster,  at  the  governor's  right  hand  ;  but 
he,  having  drank,  looked  around  with  his  paternal  smile 
and  said,  — 

"  There  is  yet  enough  in  the  loving-cup,  friends,  for 
each  one  to  wet  his  lips,  if  nothing  more,  and  I  propose 
that  we  do  so  with  our  hearty  welcome  and  best  wishes 
to  Mistress  Priscilla  Carpenter." 

Once  more  the  cup  went  gayly  round,  and  reached  the 
Elder  so  dry  that  he  smiled,  as  he  placed  it  to  his  lips, 
with  a  bow  toward  Pris  savoring  more  of  his  early  days 
in  the  court  of  Queen  Bess  than  of  New  England's 
solitudes. 

"  And  now  to  work,  my  friends,  to  work  !  "  cried  the 
governor.  "  I  for  one  am  famished,  sith  my  dame  was 
so  busy  at  noontide  with  that  wonderful  structure  yon 
der  that  she  gave  me  naught  but  bread  and  cheese." 

Everybody  laughed,  and  Alice  Bradford  colored  like 
a  red,  red  rose,  yet  bravely  answered,  — 

"  The  governor  will  have  his  jest,  but  I  hope  my 
raised  pie  will  suffer  roundly  for  its  interference  with 
his  dinner." 


52  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Faith,  dame,  but  we  '11  all  help  to  punish  it,"  ex 
claimed  Stephen  Hopkins,  gazing  fondly  at  the  elabo 
rate  mass  of  pastry  representing,  not  inartistically,  a 
castle  with  battlements  and  towers,  and  a  floating  ban 
ner  of  silk  bearing  an  heraldic  device.  "  Standish  !  we 
call  upon  you  to  lead  us  to  the  assault !  " 

"  Nay,  if  Captain  Standish  is  summoned  to  the  field, 
my  fortress  surrenders  without  even  a  parley,"  said 
Alice  Bradford,  as  she  gracefully  drew  the  little  banner 
from  its  place,  and,  laying  it  aside,  removed  a  tower,  a 
bastion,  and  a  section  of  the  battlement  from  the  doomed 
fortress,  and,  loading  a  plate  with  the  spoils  of  its  treas 
ury,  planted  the  banner  upon  the  top,  and  sent  it  to  the 
captain,  who  received  it  with  a  bow  and  a  smile,  but 
never  a  word. 

"  Speak  up,  man  ! "  cried  Hopkins  boisterously. 
"  Make  a  gallant  speech  in  return  for  the  courtesy  of  so 
fair  a  castellaine." 

"  Mistress  Bradford  needs  no  speech  to  assure  her  of 
my  devoir,"  replied  the  captain  simply,  and  the  governor 
added,  — 

"  Our  captain  speaks  more  by  deeds  than  words,  and 
Gideon  is  his  most  eloquent  interpreter.  You  have  not 
brought  him  to-day,  Captain." 

"  No ;  Gideon  sulks  in  these  days  of  peace,  and  sel 
dom  stirs  abroad." 

"  Long  may  he  be  idle  !  "  exclaimed  the  Elder,  and  a 
gentle  murmur  around  the  board  told  that  the  women 
at  least  echoed  the  prayer. 

But  Hopkins,  seated  next  to  Mistress  Bradford,  and 
watching  her  distribution  of  the  pie,  cared  naught  for 
war  or  peace  until  he  secured  a  trencher  of  its  contents, 
and  presently  cried,  — 


PRISCILLA  IN  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY.        53 

"  Now,  by  my  faith,  I  did  not  know  such  a  pye  as 
this  could  be  concocted  out  of  Yorkshire  !  'T  is  perfect 
in  all  its  parts :  fowl,  and  game,  and  pork,  and  force 
meat,  and  yolks  of  eggs,  and  curious  art  of  spicery,  and 
melting  bits  of  pastry  within,  and  stout-built  walls  with 
out  ;  in  fact,  there  is  naught  lacking  to  such  a  pye  as  my 
mother  used  to  make  before  I  had  the  wit  to  know  such 
pyes  sing  not  on  every  bush." 

"  You  're  Yorkshire,  then,  Master  Hopkins  ?  "  asked 
John  Rowland,  who  with  his  young  wife,  once  Elizabeth 
Tilley,  sat  opposite. 

"  Yes,  I  'm  Yorkshire,  root  and  branch,  and  you  're 
Essex,  and  the  captain  and  the  governor  Lancashire, 
but  all  shaken  up  in  a  bag  now,  and  turned  into  New 
Englanders,  and  since  the  Yorkshire  pye  has  come  over 
along  with  us  I  'm  content  for  one." 

A  general  laugh  indorsed  this  patriotic  speech,  but 
Myles  Standish,  toying  with  the  silken  banner  of  the  now 
sacked  and  ruined  fortress,  said  in  Bradford's  ear,  — 

"  All  very  well  for  a  man  who  has  naught  to  lose  in 
the  old  country.  But  for  my  part  I  mean  to  place  at 
least  my  oldest  son  in  the  seat  of  his  fathers." 

The  governor  smiled,  and  then  sighed.  "  Nor  can  I 
quite  forget  the  lands  of  Austerfield  held  by  Bradfords 
and  Hansons  for  more  than  one  century,  and  the  path 
beside  the  Idle,  where  Brewster  and  I  walked  and  talked 
in  the  days  of  my  first  awakening  to  the  real  things  of 
life  "  — 

"  Real  things  of  life,  say  you,  Governor  ?  "  broke  in 
Hopkins's  strident  voice  ;  "  well,  if  there  is  aught  more 
real  in  its  merit  than  this  roasted  suckling,  I  wish  that  I 
might  meet  with  it." 

And  seizing  with  his  napkin  the  hind  leg  of  the  little 


54  BETTY  ALLEN. 

roasted  pig  presented  to  him  by  Christian  Penn,  the  old 
campaigner  deftly  sliced  it  off  with  his  sheath-knife  and 
devoured  it  in  the  most  inartificial  manner  possible. 

It  was  probably  about  this  epoch  that  our  popular 
saying,  "  Fingers  were  made  before  forks,"  took  shape 
and  force. 

To  the  chowder,  and  the  "pye,"  and  the  roasted 
suckling  succeeded  a  mighty  dish  of  succotash,  that 
compound  of  dried  beans,  hulled  corn,  salted  beef,  pork, 
and  chicken  which  may  be  called  the  charter-dish  of 
Plymouth ;  then  came  wild  fowl  dressed  in  various 
ways,  a  great  bowl  of  "  sallet,"  of  Priscilla  Alden's 
composition,  and  at  last  various  sweet  dishes,  still  served 
at  the  end  of  a  meal,  although  soon  after  it  was  the 
mode  to  take  them  first. 

"  Oh,  dear,  when  will  the  dignities  stop  eating  and 
drinking  and  making  compliments  to  each  other  ?  "  mur 
mured  Priscilla  Carpenter  to  Mary  Warren  at  the  side 
table  where  the  girls  and  lads  were  grouped  together, 
enjoying  themselves  as  much  as  their  elders,  albeit  in 
less  ceremonious  fashion. 

"  There  !  Your  sister  has  laid  down  her  napkin,  and 
is  gazing  steadfastly  at  the  governor,  with  '  Get  up  and 
say  Grace  '  in  her  eye,"  replied  Mary,  nudging  Jane 
Cooke  to  enforce  silence  ;  whereat  that  merry  maid  burst 
into  a  giggle,  joined  by  Sarah  and  Elizabeth  Warren, 
and  Mary  Allerton,  and  Betsey  Ring,  while  Edward 
Bangs,  and  Robert  Bartlett,  and  Sam  Jenney,  and 
Philip  De  la  Noye,  and  Thomas  Clarke,  and  John  Cooke 
chuckled  in  sympathy,  yet  knew  not  what  at. 

A  warning  yet  very  gentle  glance  from  Dame  Brad 
ford's  eyes  stifled  the  noise,  and  nearly  did  as  much  for 
its  authors,  who  barely  managed  to  preserve  sobriety, 


PEISCILLA  IN  PLYMOUTH  SOCIETY.        55 

while  the  governor  returned  thanks  to  the  Giver  of  all 
good ;  so  soon,  however,  as  the  elder  party  moved  away, 
the  painfully  suppressed  giggle  burst  into  a  storm  of 
merriment,  which  as  it  subsided  was  renewed  in  fullest 
vigor  by  Sarah  Warren's  bewildered  inquiry,  — 

"  What  are  we  all  laughing  at?  " 

"  Never  mind,  we  '11  laugh  first,  and  find  the  where 
fore  at  our  leisure,"  suggested  Jane  Cooke,  and  so  the 
dear  old  foolish  fan  that  seems  to  spring  up  in  spon 
taneous  growth  where  young  folk  are  gathered  together, 
and  is  sometimes  scorned  and  sometimes  coveted  by 
their  elders,  went  on,  and,  after  the  tables  were  cleared, 
took  form  in  all  sorts  of  old  English  games,  not  very 
intellectual,  not  even  very  refined,  but  as  satisfactory 
to  those  who  played  as  Buried  Cities,  and  Twenty  Ques 
tions,  and  Intellectual  Salad,  and  capping  Browning 
quotations  are  to  the  children  of  culture  and  aesthetics. 

The  elders,  meanwhile,  retiring  to  the  smaller  room  at 
the  other  side  of  the  front  door,  seated  themselves  to 
certain  sober  games  of  draughts,  of  backgammon,  of 
loo,  and  beggar-my-neighbor,  or  picquet,  while  Elder 
Brewster  challenged  the  governor  to  a  game  of  chess 
which  was  not  finished  when,  at  ten  o'clock,  the  com 
pany  broke  up,  and  with  many  a  blithe  good-night,  and 
assurance  of  the  pleasure  they  had  enjoyed,  betook 
themselves  to  their  own  homes. 

Thus,  then,  was  Priscilla  Carpenter  introduced  into 
Plymouth  society. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A   VIPER   SCOTCHED,    NOT   KILLED. 

"'Tis  meat  for  my  masters,"  muttered  William 
Wright,  plodding  stubbornly  up  the  hill  toward  the 
Fort ;  but  as  he  passed  John  Alden's  door  the  sturdy, 
middle-aged  man  paused  to  watch,  with  a  smile  of  admi 
ration  rather  strange  to  his  commonplace  visage,  a  game 
of  romps  between  little  Betty  Alden  and  Priscilla  Car 
penter,  and  indeed  it  was  a  pretty  sight.  The  maiden, 
her  full  yet  lissome  figure  displayed  in  a  short  skirt  of 
blue  cloth  and  a  kirtle  of  India  chintz  belted  down  by 
a  little  white  apron,  was  teasing  the  child  with  a  cluster 
of  ripe  blackberries  held  just  beyond  her  reach,  and, 
dancing  hither  and  yon  as  Betty  pursued,  showed  her 
pretty  feet  and  ankles  to  perfection,  while  the  exercise 
and  fresh  air  had  tinted  her  cheeks  and  brightened  her 
eyes  as  cosmetics  never  could,  and  set  a  thousand  little 
airy  curls  loose  from  the  fair  hair  braided  in  a  long 
plait  down  her  back. 

"You  can't  catch  me,  Betty!      You  can't  have  the 
plums  till  you  catch  me,  and  you  can't  —  ah,  now  — 
catch  if  you  can  —  catch  if  you  can  !  " 

But  Betty,  shrieking  with  laughter  as  she  dived  this 
way  and  that,  suddenly  grew  so  grave  and  frowned  so 
terribly  as  she  pointed  her  chubby  finger  and  stam 
mered,  "  Go  'way  —  s'ant  look  o'  me  —  go  'way  man  !  " 
that  Priscilla  turned  sharply  round,  and  catching  the 


A   VIPER  SCOTCHED,  NOT  KILLED.          57 

interloper  in  the  very  midst  of  a  broad  smile,  she 
frowned,  almost  as  terribly  as  Betty,  and  loftily  in 
quired,  — 

"  Am  I  in  your  path,  Master  Wright  ?  " 

"  Nay,  how  could  that  be  ? "  stammered  Wright, 
utterly  abashed  before  his  two  accusers.  "  I  pray  you 
excuse  me,  Mistress  Prissie,  but  I  —  I  was  looking  for 
the  governor,  and  "  — 

"  The  governor  ?  "  interrupted  Priscilla  scornfully  ; 
"  well,  he  's  not  in  my  pocket,  is  he  in  yours,  Betty  ?  " 

And  catching  up  the  child,  she  was  retreating  into  the 
house,  when  her  admirer  interposed  with  an  air  of  dig 
nity  more  becoming  to  his  age  and  appearance  than  the 
confusion  of  a  detected  intruder  upon  a  girl's  pastime,  — 

"  Nay,  mistress,  I  need  not  drive  you  away ;  I  am 
going  to  the  Fort." 

"  Well,  there  is  the  governor  coming  down  from  the 
Fort  so  as  to  leave  room  for  you,"  retorted  Prissie,  and 
setting  the  child  inside  the  door,  she  fled  down  the  hill 
as  lightly  as  the  wind  that  chased  her. 

"  Good-morrow,  Wright,"  cried  Bradford  cheerily,  as 
the  two  men  met. 

"  Good-morrow,  Governor.  May  I  have  a  word  with 
you  on  business  ?  " 

"  Surely.  Come  back  to  the  Fort,  where  I  have  just 
left  the  captain.  Ah,  here  he  is  now !  " 

And  the  three  men  were  soon  seated  in  the  captain's 
little  den,  flooded  with  sunshine  through  its  eastern 
window. 

"  I  sail  in  the  Little  James  to-day,  sirs,"  began  Wright 
abruptly  ;  "  and  but  now,  not  an  hour  agone,  Master 
Lyford  gave  me  this  letter,  praying  me  to  hold  it  secret, 
and  carry  it  to  its  address  in  London,  and  he  would 


58  BETTY  ALDEN. 

give  me  five  shilling  when  I  returned.  Now,  sirs,  I  am 
not  a  man  to  be  hired  for  five  shilling  to  do  any  man's 
dirty  work,  and  I  liked  not  Master  Lyford's  look  or 
voice  as  he  gave  me  his  errand,  nor  have  I  forgot  the 
matters  concerning  him  and  John  Oldhame  a  while  ago, 
and  so  —  here  's  the  letter,  Governor." 

"  Ha !  'T  is  to  the  same  address,  Captain  !  Our  well- 
known  enemy  and  gainsayer  among  the  Adventurers." 

"  Ay.  The  old  proverb  come  true  again  of  the  dog 
that  turns  from  good  victual  to  vile,"  muttered  Standish 
grimly.  "  And  I  suppose  it  is  to  be  opened  like  the  rest  ? 
Work  I  do  not  relish,  Governor." 

"  Nor  I.  But  Winslow  and  Allerton  are  both  away, 
and  you  must  come  with  me  to  the  Elder.  In  his  pres 
ence  and  yours  I  shall  open  and  read  this  letter,  as  is 
my  bounden  duty." 

And  Bradford,  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  looked 
straight  into  the  face  of  the  captain,  who,  returning  the 
gaze  with  one  of  his  keen  glances,  nodded  assent,  say 
ing  in  a  surly  voice,  — 

"  You  are  the  governor.  It  is  for  you  to  order  and 
me  to  obey,  but  I  like  it  not." 

"  As  for  you,  Wright,  you  have  done  well  and  wisely 
in  this  matter.  The  James  sails  at  three  of  the  clock  ; 
come  you  to  my  house  at  two,  and  I  will  return  you  the 
letter  with  one  of  mine  own." 

"  Will  Priscilla  Carpenter  be  in  the  room !  "  wondered 
William  Wright,  as  he  took  his  leave. 

The  letter  examined  by  the  triumvirate  of  governor, 
Elder,  and  captain  proved  that  Lyford's  penitence,  if 
indeed  it  had  ever  existed,  had  spent  its  strength  in 
protestation.  The  writer  alluded  to  the  letters  the 
governor  had  allowed  to  go  forward,  either  by  original 


A   VIPER  SCOTCHED,  NOT  KILLED.  59 

or  copy,  and  declared  that  all  they  had  stated  was  true, 
"  only  not  the  half,"  and  that  since  their  discovery  he 
had  been  persecuted  and  browbeaten  to  the  verge  of  ex 
istence,  and  all  because  he  loved  and  clung  to  the  Prayer 
Book  and  his  Episcopal  ordination.  The  letter  closed 
with  entreaties  that  a  sufficient  body  of  settlers,  with 
military  leaders,  should  at  once  be  sent  over  to  crush  his 
present  hosts  and  set  him  at  liberty  to  follow  his  con 
science. 

"  At  least,  we  may  at  once  grant  our  brother  liberty 
to  follow  his  conscience  in  matters  spiritual,"  remarked 
the  Elder  with  a  grave  smile,  as  he  laid  down  the  letter. 
"  I  think  it  will  be  best  to  summon  a  church  meeting 
for  next  Lord's  Day,  and  utterly  dismiss  Master  Lyford 
from  our  fellowship  and  communion.  It  is  no  less  than 
sacrilege  for  a  man  who  can  write  after  this  fashion  to 
sit  down  at  the  Lord's  table  with  us,  professing  to  be 
of  us." 

"  You  are  right,  Elder,"  replied  Bradford  sternly, 
"  and  I  leave  the  spiritual  matter  to  you ;  but  it  is  my 
duty,  and  one  not  to  be  slighted,  to  drive  this  traitor  out 
of  our  body  politic.  He  must  leave  Plymouth  at  once. 
Say  you  not  so,  Captain  Standish  ?  " 

"  I  say,  bundle  him  into  the  Little  James  and  send 
him  back  to  England  to  his  dear  cronies  there,  or,  better 
still,  strip  off  his  gown  and  bands  and  hang  him  as  a 
traitor." 

"  To  send  him  to  England  we  have  no  warrant,  nor 
would  it  be  wise  to  invite  English  legislation  in  our 
particular  affairs,"  retorted  the  governor ;  "  and  as  for 
hanging  him,  it  is  a  course  open  both  to  these  same  ob 
jections  and  to  something  more.  No,  we  shall  simply 
bid  him  leave  the  colony  and  not  return  hither  on  any 


60  BETTY  ALDEN. 

pretense.     The  wife  and  children  may  remain  until  he 
has  a  home  whither  to  carry  them." 

"  A  righteous  judgment,"  pronounced  the  Elder,  and 
as  Standish  growled  assent,  the  matter  was  settled,  and 
so  promptly  carried  into  effect  that  in  less  than  forty- 
eight  hours  the  renegade  forever  turned  his  back  upon 
the  place  and  the  people  who  had  trusted  and  honored 
him,  and  whom,  had  he  been  a  faithful  servant  of  his 
Master  and  the  Church,  he  might  undoubtedly  have  led 
to  a  renewed  allegiance  to  the  venerable  Mother  whose 
unwise  severity  rather  than  whose  doctrine  had  driven 
them  from  the  home  of  their  ancestors. 

"  There  goes  a  viper  scotched,  not  killed,  and  we  shall 
feel  his  sting  yet,"  remarked  Standish,  as  he  with  Peter 
Browne  and  John  Alden  stood  on  the  brow  of  Cole's 
Hill,  and  watched  Lyford's  embarkation  in  a  fishing-boat 
belonging  to  Nantucket,  where  Oldharne  had  pitched 
his  tent  for  a  while.  Here  also,  or  at  neighboring  Wey- 
mouth,  Blackstone,  Maverick,  Walford,  and  a  few  other 
of  the  Gorges  party  had  succeeded  to  the  houses  left 
empty  by  Weston's  men  after  their  deliverance  by  Myles 
Standish  from  Pecksuot,  Wituwamat,  and  their  horde. 
In  course  of  time,  Blackstone,  carrying  his  clergyman's 
coat,  removed  to  Boston  Common,  Walford  to  Charles- 
town,  and  Maverick  to  East  Boston,  each  man  repre 
senting  the  entire  population  of  each  place  ;  but  still  some 
settlers  remained  on  the  old  site,  so  that  from  the  time 
of  Weston's  arrival  in  1622,  this  neighborhood  has  been 
the  home  of  white  men. 

"  Scotched,  not  killed,"  repeated  Standish,  filling  his 
pipe,  as  he  sat  and  mused  in  the  autumn  sunshine  outside 
of  his  cabin  door,  while  Barbara  in  her  noiseless  but 
competent  fashion  got  ready  a  savory  supper  within,  and 


A   VIPEE  SCOTCHED,  NOT  KILLED.          61 

Alick,  with  a  bow  made  for  him  by  Hobomok,  fired  not 
unskillful  arrows  at  a  target  set  upon  the  hillside. 

A  week  later  the  captain's  words  came  true,  for  the 
same  fishing  boat  that  had  carried  away  Lyford  put 
into  Plymouth  Harbor  on  an  ebb  tide,  and  sent  off  her 
boat  with  four  men,  one  of  whom  was  soon  recognized 
as  Oldhame.  As  the  banished  man  leaped  upon  the  Rock, 
followed  by  his  comrades,  all  strangers  to  Plymouth, 
some  of  the  older  townsmen  met  him,  and  one  of  them 
gravely  inquired  his  business. 

"  Business  quotha !  "  blustered  Oldhame,  who  was 
evidently  the  worse  for  liquor.  "  My  business  is  first 
to  tweak  Billy  Bradford's  nose,  and  then  to  kick  Myles 
Standish  into  a  rat-hole,  and  finally  to  burn  down  your 
wretched  kennels,  and  root  up  this  doghole  of  a  place, 
where  I  and  my  friends  have  met  such  scurvy  treat 
ment." 

"  An'  your  errand  is  so  large  an  one,  you  had  better 
go  and  seek  the  governor  and  his  assistants  without  de 
lay,"  replied  Francis  Cooke,  waving  his  hand  up  Ley- 
den  Street,  and  restraining  by  a  look  some  of  the  younger 
men,  who  seemed  disposed  to  dispute  the  landing. 

"  Why,  so  I  will,  Cooke  ;  1 11  go  up  and  speak  to  your 
masters,  but  not  my  masters,  mind  you,  good  Cooke ; 
good  Cooke,  ha,  ha  !  Come,  now,  hop  into  my  boat  and 
I  '11  carry  you  home  to  be  my  cook,  mine  own  good  cook, 
Francis  !  Hop  in,  I  say  !  " 

And  the  roysterer,  with  a  roar  of  drunken  laughter, 
strode  up  the  hill,  the  strangers,  who  looked  both 
anxious  and  ashamed,  following  slowly  after  him. 

In  the  Town  Square  the  invaders  encountered  Brad 
ford  with  Doctor  Fuller  and  Stephen  Hopkins,  and  Old 
hame,  pushing  himself  into  the  group,  began  a  violent 


62  BETTY  ALDEN. 

tirade  upon  the  abuses  and  insults  that  he  averred  had 
been  offered  both  him  and  Lyford,  and  was  proceeding 
to  the  most  scurrilous  threats  and  vituperations,  when 
the  governor,  beckoning  Bart  Allerton,  who4,  with  sev 
eral  other  young  men,  was  hanging  around  the  group  of 
elders,  said  calmly,  — 

"  Bart,  find  Captain  Standish,  and  bid  him  summon  a 
couple  of  the  train-band,  and  bring  them  hither." 

"  Oho !  Captain  Shrimp  is  to  appear  on  the  scene,  is 
he  ?  Well,  I  've  come  here  to  settle  old  scores  with 
him  as  well  as  the  rest  I  Go  fetch  him,  Bart ;  trot,  boy, 
trot  I  " 

"  It  needs  not  to  fetch  him,  Master  Oldhame,  since 
he  is  here  at  your  service."  Thus  speaking,  the  captain, 
who  had  been  hastening  down  the  hill  before  he  was 
summoned,  strode  into  the  circle,  a  grim  smile  upon  his 
face  and  the  red  light  of  battle  in  his  eye. 

"  Ha!  my  little  bantam  cock  !  are  you  there  ?  "  And 
the  reckless  fellow  aimed  a  backhanded  blow  at  the  cap 
tain's  face,  which  the  latter  easily  evaded  by  a  side- 
movement,  and  returned  with  a  square  blow  from  the 
shoulder,  taking  effect  under  Oldhame's  jaw,  and  send 
ing  him  staggering  back  into  the  arms  of  one  of  his  new 
comrades. 

"  Enough,  enough  !  "  exclaimed  Bradford,  holding  up 
his  hand.  "  A  street  brawl  is  not  befitting  or  seemly. 
Captain  Standish,  arrest  this  man,  and  put  him  in  the 
strong-room  until  we  consider  what  measure  to  deal  out 
to  him." 

"  The  tide  is  gone,  or  we  would  carry  him  aboard  and 
be  off  altogether,"  suggested  one  of  the  strangers. 

"  Possibly  not,"  quietly  returned  the  governor.  "  It 
might  not  seem  right  to  so  lightly  dismiss  such  an 


A   VIPEE  SCOTCHED,  NOT  KILLED.  63 

offense.  We  would  bear  ourselves  meekly  with  all 
men,  but  it  is  not  meet  that  our  townsfolk  should  see 
their  leaders  insulted  and  braved  thus  insolently  with 
impunity." 

"  Captain  Gorges  would  have  run  a  man  through  for 
less,"  replied  the  other.  "  But  Oldharae  said  the  Ply 
mouth  men  were  crop-eared  psalm-singers,  who  would 
not  fight." 

"  If  Plymouth  men  had  not  fought  to  some  purpose 
on  the  spot  where  you  have  settled,  you  would  have 
found  but  sorry  housing  there,"  retorted  Standish  sav 
agely,  as  he  led  his  captive  away,  securely  bound,  and 
Bradford  in  his  usual  calm  tones  explained,  — 

"  After  our  captain  had  slain  Pecksuot  and  Witu- 
wamat  and  dispersed  their  following,  he  nailed  a  pla 
card  to  the  tree  at  the  gate  of  the  stockade,  whereon  he 
had  hung  one  of  the  ringleaders,  warning  the  savages 
that  if  they  burned  or  destroyed  the  dwellings  that  re 
mained,  he  would  come  back  and  serve  them  as  he  had 
their  misleader ;  and  this  cartel,  although  they  could  not 
read  it,  so  terrified  their  superstitious  fancies  that  Cap 
tain  Gorges  found  housen  for  his  men,  and  a  stoccado 
to  protect  them." 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  stranger,  gazing  curiously  after 
Standish,  "  we  found  the  bones  of  the  hanged  man  lying 
in  a  heap  under  the  tree,  and  the  marks  of  a  deadly  fray 
in  the  house  where  Pecksuot  fell." 

"  Ay,  so.  It  was  a  sad  necessity,  and  one  almost  as 
grievous  to  us  as  to  the  savages,"  returned  Bradford. 
"  Now,  sirs,  we  have  no  quarrel  with  you,  nor  wish  for 
any.  Your  skiff  will  not  float  until  three  hours  after 
noon,  and  when  she  does  we  shall  doubtless  send  away 
Master  Oldhame  in  her ;  meantime,  you  are  welcome  to 


64  BETTY  ALDEN. 

look  about  and  see  our  town  and  Fort,  and  discourse  with 
the  people.  Master  Hopkins,  will  you  see  that  these 
men  have  some  dinner  ?  " 

"  Such  as  't  is,  they  're  welcome  to  some  of  mine," 
promptly  replied  Hopkins,  whose  comfortable  house 
stood  on  the  corner  of  Leyden  and  Main  streets  just  op 
posite  the  governor's,  and  whose  garden  stretched  along 
to  Middle  Street,  not  yet  laid  out.  The  size  and  conven 
ience  of  his  house,  and  the  bountiful  and  cheerful  hos 
pitality  of  his  wife,  who,  with  the  aid  of  her  daughters 
Constance,  Damaris,  and  Deborah,  administered  the  do 
mestic  affairs,  combining  English  thrift  and  neatness 
with  colonial  abundance,  gave  Hopkins  the  frequent 
opportunity  of  entertaining  visitors  to  Plymouth,  while 
Bradford  saw  that  he  was  no  loser  by  such  a  course. 

Meanwhile  the  governor  and  his  council  sat  in  con 
clave,  secure  that  their  decision  would  find  favor  with  the 
people,  or  at  any  rate  with  that  nucleus  and  backbone 
of  the  commonalty  known  as  "  the  first-comers,"  mean 
ing  the  passengers  of  the  Mayflower,  the  Fortune,  and 
the  Anne,  with  her  tender  the  Little  James. 

At  noon  the  tide  turned,  and  the  town  went  to  dinner. 
About  half  past  two  Bartholomew  Allerton  beat  the 
"  assembly  "  in  the  Town  Square,  and  at  the  well-un 
derstood  summons  men,  women,  and  children  gathered 
in  the  square,  or  clustered  in  the  open  doorways,  all  filled 
with  curiosity  as  to  the  mode  of  punishment  about  to  be 
meted  out  to  the  returned  exile,  and  yet  none  in  the 
least  doubt  as  to  its  justice.  Even  the  men  whom  he 
had  brought  with  him  to  be  the  witnesses  of  his  triumph 
stood  supinely  to  view  his  disgrace,  muttering  among 
themselves,  and  casting  uneasy  glances  down  the  hill  to 
where  their  shallop  lay  still  aground  at  the  foot  of  the 


A   VIPER  SCOTCHED,  NOT  KILLED.          65 

Rock,  while  the  larger  boat  hardly  swung  afloat  on  the 
breast  of  the  young  tide. 

Three  o'clock,  and  the  governor,  the  Elder,  and  the 
captain  came  out  of  the  house  of  the  first,  robed  in 
their  official  garments,  and  stood  upon  a  platform  of 
squared  logs  erected  at  the  intersection  of  the  streets 
and  mounted  with  two  small  cannon  called  patereros.  A 
blast  from  the  trumpet,  and  the  gate  of  the  Fort  upon 
the  hill  swung  open,  and  out  came  a  strange  procession : 
first,  Bart  Allerton  with  his  drum,  and  three  other  young 
fellows  with  wind  instruments,  who  rendered  a  fair  imi 
tation  of  the  Rogue's  March ;  then  twenty  picked  men, 
mostly  from  among  the  first-comers,  each  carrying  his 
snaphance  reversed  ;  then  Master  Oldhame,  bareheaded 
and  barefooted,  and  with  his  arms  tied  across  his 
chest;  and  finally,  Lieutenant  John  Alden,  bearing  a 
naked  sword,  followed  by  a  guard  of  four  men  well 
armed. 

Down  the  hill  they  came  at  a  foot-pace,  the  bugles 
and  trumpet  shrilling  out  their  contemptuous  cadences, 
and  Oldhame,  his  pride  subdued  and  his  pot-valiancy 
all  evaporated,  stepping  delicately  as  Agog,  for  the  peb 
bles  hurt  his  bare  feet,  and  perhaps  feeling  with  Agog 
that  the  bitterness  of  death  was  at  his  lips. 

Before  the  platform,  where  stood  the  magnates  and 
the  cannon,  the  procession  paused,  the  music  ceased,  and 
upon  the  silence  rose  the  governor's  calm,  strong  voice. 

"  John  Oldhame,  you  have  come  hither  in  defiance  of 
the  formal  edict  of  this  government  banishing  you  from 
the  colony ;  and  you  have  come  with  violence  and  in 
sult,  refusing  to  accept  warning,  or  to  depart  peaceably. 
We  therefore  have  resolved  that  since  you  return  dis 
honorably,  you  shall  depart  in  dishonor,  taking  with  you 


66  BETTY  ALDEN. 

the  warning  for  the  future,  that  the  barrels  of  our  pieces 
are  more  deadly  than  their  stocks.  Go,  and  mend  your 
manners !  " 

He  waved  his  hand,  and  the  bugles  recommenced 
their  blare,  while  the  twenty  men  opened  their  ranks 
and  ranged  themselves  in  two  lines  some  three  feet 
apart,  but  not  directly  opposite  each  other. 

"  Go  on,  prisoner !  "  ordered  Alden,  touching  Old- 
hame  with  the  hilt  of  his  sword.  "  Go,  and  mend  your 
manners !  "  And  as  the  cowed  yet  furious  rebel  stepped 
forward,  the  first  man  of  the  line  struck  upward  with  the 
stock  of  his  reversed  musket,  saying,  — 

"  Go,  and  mend  your  manners  !  "  The  next  instant 
the  same  blow  and  the  same  words  fell  from  the  minute- 
man  diagonally  opposite,  and  so  down  the  entire  line, 
until  as  the  twentieth  blow  and  twenty-second  adjura 
tion  to  "  Go,  and  mend  your  manners  "  fell  upon  the 
humiliated  bully,  he  broke  down  utterly,  and  with  a 
howl  of  mingled  rage  and  pain  bolted  into  the  door  of 
John  Rowland's  house  next  below  Stephen  Hopkins' s, 
but  was  met  by  Elizabeth,  who  with  little  John  clinging 
to  her  skirts  and  Desire  in  her  arms  boldly  faced  the  in 
truder  for  a  moment,  and  then  looking  into  his  stream 
ing  face  and  hunted  eyes  cried  pitifully,  — 

"  Oh,  poor  soul !  "  and  seizing  the  scissors  at  her  gir 
dle  cut  the  band  confining  his  arms,  and  catching  up  a 
tankard  of  ale  set  ready  for  her  husband  held  it  to  his 
lips,  muttering, — 

"  Mayhap  't  is  treason,  but  there,  poor  creature,  drink, 
and  then  slink  away  down  the  hill  while  —  Why, 
what's  to  do  now  in  the  street  ?  " 

"Why  don't  you  say,  '  Go,  and  mend  your  manners! '  ' 
hoarsely  asked  Oldhame  ;  but  still  he  drank,  and  then, 


A   VIPER  SCOTCHED,  NOT  KILLED.          67 

glancing  over  his  hostess's  shoulder  as  she  stood  in  the 
doorway,  he  swore  a  great  oath,  and  pushing  her  rudely 
aside  dashed  out  and  down  the  hill  to  his  boat. 

For,  unseen  by  the  townsmen,  all  of  them  absorbed  in 
the  punishment  parade,  the  ship  Jacob,  Captain  William 
Pierce,  had  sailed  into  harbor  upon  the  flood-tide, 
dropped  anchor  beside  the  Nantucket  fishing  craft,  and 
set  ashore  her  master,  with  his  distinguished  passenger 
Edward  Winslow,  who  had  been  to  England  to  try  to 
straighten  the  tangled  relations  between  the  Pilgrims 
and  the  Adventurers,  already  playing  fast  and  loose 
with  their  promises. 

Some  good-natured  raillery  from  Captain  Pierce  upon 
the  negligent  outlook  kept  by  the  colonists  served  to  re 
lieve  the  strain  of  the  late  occurrence,  and  as  Winslow 
with  a  face  full  of  portent  followed  the  governor  into  his 
house,  John  Oldhame  stepped  aboard  the  fishing  vessel, 
and  sailed  out  of  Plymouth  Harbor  in  a  condition  of  un 
wonted  quiet  and  humiliation. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MORTON  OF  MERRY  MOUNT. 

"  WELL,  Master  Trumpeter,  and  what  do  you  make 
of  yon  craft  ?  Are  the  Don  Spaniards  coining  to  invade 
New  Plymouth,  or  has  the  king  sent  to  impress  you  as 
major-domo  of  the  royal  band  ?  " 

"  Good-morrow,  Captain  Standish.  The  governor 
lent  me  his  perspective  glass,  and  sent  me  up  on  the  hill 
to  spy  out  who  was  coming." 

"  And  that 's  all  right,  Bart.  No  need  to  make  ex 
cuse  for  doing  the  governor's  bidding,  my  lad." 

"  I  was  thinking,  Captain,  you  found  it  strange  to  see 
me  on  the  Fort  without  notice  to  you  "  — 

"  And  so  came  up  to  call  you  to  account  ?  No,  my 
boy,  I  know  who  's  to  be  trusted  and  who  not,  else  had 
I  served  in  vain  through  those  long  years  in  the  Low 
Countries.  Had  it  been  Gyles  Hopkins  now,  or  Jack 
Billington —  But  there,  what  make  you  of  the  craft  ?  " 

"  I  think,  sir,  't  is  Master  Maverick's  boat  from  Nod 
dle's  Island,  and  there  are  four  men  in  her  whose  faces 
I  cannot  yet  make  out." 

"  A  friendly  visit,  belike.  Stay  you  here,  Bart,  until 
you  can  determine  the  craft,  and  then  carry  the  news  to 
the  governor.  I  am  going  down  to  the  Rock  on  mine 
own  occasions." 

Bowling  merrily  along  before  an  easterly  breeze,  the 
ketch  soon  rounded  Beach  Point,  and  dropped  her  an- 


MO  ETON  OF  MERRY  MOUNT.       69 

chor  opposite  the  village,  but  in  midstream,  and  so  soon 
as  the  sails  were  snugged,  and  all  made  ready  for  some 
possible  change  of  weather,  the  four  visitors  stepped 
into  a  skiff  and  were  sculled  ashore  by  a  tall,  fine-look 
ing  young  fellow,  whose  bronzed  face  and  lithe  figure 
were  well  set  off  by  the  buckskin  hunting-shirt  and  red 
cap  worn  with  a  jaunty  air  not  inharmonious  with  the 
young  man's  roving  black  eyes  and  flashing  smile. 

"  Master  Maverick  and  his  son,  Master  Blackstone 
from  Shawmut,  and  Master  Bursley  and  Master  Jeffries 
from  Wessagussett,"  reported  Bart  Allerton,  hat  in  hand, 
at  the  governor's  door,  and  Bradford,  laying  down  his 
book,  replied  with  a  grave  smile,  — 

"  I  will  go  to  meet  them." 

Half  an  hour  later  the  three  elder  visitors  with  the 
governor,  the  captain,  Allerton,  Doctor  Fuller,  and  one 
or  two  more,  were  closeted  in  the  new  room  recently 
added  to  the  governor's  house,  and  used  by  him  as  a 
council  chamber  and  court  room. 

Moses  Maverick,  the  handsome  young  boatman,  had 
meanwhile  somewhat  pointedly  sought  out  Bart  Aller 
ton,  and  almost  invited  himself  to  accompany  him  home. 

"  Go  you  into  the  front  room  and  entertain  him,  Re 
member,"  directed  the  young  step-mother  with  a  mis 
chievous  smile.  "I  am  too  busy  with  little  Isaac  to 
leave  him  just  now." 

And  Maverick  received  the  apologies  of  his  hostess 
with  an  air  so  strangely  contented  that  Remember  paused 
half  way  in  making  them,  and  faltered  and  blushed  and 
laughed,  very  much  as  a  modest  but  open-eyed  girl 
would  do  to-day. 

"  I  told  you  last  Lady  Day  that  I  should  soon  be  here 
again,  Remember,"  murmured  the  youth  rather  irrele 
vantly. 


70  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  I  know  naught  of  Lady  Days,"  retorted  the  Pil 
grim  maid  with  an  effort  at  a  saucy  little  laugh. 

"  'T  is  because  your  father  is  a  Separatist,  but  we 
Mavericks  are  sound  Churchmen,"  replied  the  lover. 
"  Some  day,  mayhap,  you  '11  be  better  advised." 

Let  us  discreetly  leave  them  to  themselves,  arid  seek 
the  council  chamber  where  Blackstone  is  saying,  — 

"  Yes,  Governor  Bradford,  we  have  come  to  you  for 
that  aid  and  support  against  the  common  foe  which  all 
Christians  have  a  right  to  demand  of  each  other,  no 
matter  how  the  forms  of  their  Christianity  may  disa 
gree." 

"  The  plea  is  one  never  disallowed  by  the  men  of 
Plymouth,"  returned  Bradford  in  his  sonorous  voice. 
"  But  what  would  you  have  us  to  do  ?  " 

"  Why,  to  capture  this  Morton  by  force  of  arms,  since 
words  have  no  effect,  and  ship  him  back  to  England, 
where  they  say  there  is  a  warrant  out  against  him  for 
murder  of  some  man  in  the  west  country  with  whom  he 
had  business  concerns." 

"  That  were  a  high-handed  proceeding,  specially  sith 
his  settlement  is  not  within  the  domain  of  Plymouth," 
suggested  the  Elder  cautiously. 

"  True,"  broke  in  Bursley  impetuously.  "  But  as 
Master  Blackstone  has  told  you,  Morton  sells  pieces  and 
ammunition  and  rum  to  the  savages  without  let  or  stint, 
and  they,  having  naught  else  to  do,  practice  at  a  mark 
all  day  long,  and  soon  will  prove  better  shots  than  any 
white  man.  Then,  when  some  new  Wituwamat  or 
Pecksuot  shall  arise  to  stir  them  to  revolt,  where  shall 
we  be  ?  You  had  not  won  so  easy  a  triumph  there 
where  I  live,  Captain  Standish,  had  your  foes  been 
armed  with  snaphances," 


MORTON  OF  MERRY  MOUNT.  71 

"  Not  so  easy,  perhaps,  but  to  my  mind  more  honor 
able,"  replied  Standish  coldly.  "  Howbeit,  I  do  not  ap 
prove  of  arming  the  Indians." 

"  Of  course,  Governor,"  resumed  Blackstone,  who  had 
been  the  principal  speaker,  "  the  peril  is  not  great  for 
you  who  can  count  a  hundred  fighting  men  with  Cap 
tain  Standish  to  lead  them ;  but  none  other  of  the  set 
tlements  is  of  any  force,  although  friend  Maverick  here 
has  fortified  his  island,  and  may  depend  upon  a  dozen 
men  or  so  of  his  household,  and  the  Hilton  brothers  at 
Piscataqua  and  Cocheco  are  stout  and  well-armed  fel 
lows,  and  my  neighbor  Thomas  Walford  at  Mishawum  * 
has  a  palisado  round  his  house,  and  his  blacksmith's 
sledge  with  some  other  weapons  inside.  Then  at  Naum- 
keag  2  are  Roger  Conant,  Peter  Palfrey,  and  the  rest, 
with  your  old  friend  Lyford  as  their  parson,  and  Conant 
is  a  fighting  man  as  well  as  a  godly  one.  But  I,  as  all 
men  know,  am  a  man  of  peace  as  befits  a  parson ;  and 
there  is  David  Thompson's  young  widow  and  child  abid 
ing  on  the  island  bearing  his  name,  with  only  a  couple  of 
men-servants  to  defend  them.  If  all  of  us  drew  together 
in  one  hold  we  should  not  count  half  the  force  of  Ply 
mouth,  but  we  do  not  wish  so  to  abandon  our  plantations." 

"Have  you  labored  with  Thomas  Morton,  showing 
him  the  wrong  he  does  ?  "  asked  Elder  Brewster  coldly, 
and  eying  the  Churchman  with  strong  disfavor,  for 
Blackstone,  with  questionable  taste,  had  chosen  to  wear 
upon  this  expedition  the  long  coat  and  shovel  hat  care 
fully  brought  by  him  from  England  as  the  uniform  of 
his  profession.  Dressed  in  these  canonicals,  with  the  in 
congruous  addition  of  "  Geneva  bands,"  Blackstone  reg 
ularly  read  the  Church  of  England  service  on  Sundays 
1  Charlestown.  2  Salem. 


72  BETTY  ALDEN. 

at  his  house  upon  the  Common,  sometimes  alone,  and 
sometimes  to  a  congregation  composed  of  the  Walfords 
from  Charlestown,  the  Mavericks  from  Noddle's  Island 
or  East  Boston,  the  settlers  from  Chelsea,  and  perhaps 
in  fine  weather  the  Grays  from  Hull,  and  some  of  the 
folk  from  Old  Spain  in  Weymouth.  For  all  these  were 
adherents  to  the  Church  of  England  after  a  fashion,  al 
though  by  no  means  ardent  religionists  of  any  sort ;  and 
as  such,  held  in  considerable  esteem  the  eccentric  parson 
living  in  the  solitude  he  loved  among  his  apple-trees,  and 
beside  his  clear  spring,  now  merged  in  the  Frog  Pond 
of  our  Common.  A  lukewarm  Churchman,  he  was 
friendly  enough  to  the  Separatists,  and  now  replied  to 
Brewster  with  a  smile,  — 

"  I  have  labored  so  vainly,  Elder,  that  I  fear  even 
your  authority  would  be  of  no  avail.  I  opine  that  our 
friend  Standish  here  is  the  only  man  whose  eloquence 
Thomas  Morton  will  heed  in  the  smallest  degree." 

"  And  the  chief  men  of  all  the  settlements  are  agreed 
in  making  this  request  of  Plymouth  ?  "  asked  the  gov 
ernor. 

"  Not  only  the  chief,  but  every  man  among  them,"  an 
swered  Maverick.  "  And  what  is  more  to  the  purpose, 
each  one  of  the  settlements  will  bear  its  share  in  what 
soever  charges  the  arrest  and  transportation  may  in 
volve." 

"  That  is  well,  but  should  be  set  down  in  writing  with 
signatures  and  witnesses,"  suggested  Allerton,  to  whom 
Maverick  haughtily  replied,  — 

"  Oh,  never  fear,  Master  Allerton.  The  most  of  us 
are  honest  men  and  not  traders." 

"  No  offense,  Master  Maverick,  no  offense ;  but  it  is 
well  that  all  things  should  be  done  decently  and  in 


MORTON  OF  MERRY  MOUNT.       73 

order,"  returned  the  assistant  smoothly,  and  the  council 
soon  after  broke  up  with  the  understanding  that  Brad 
ford,  as  the  only  recognized  authority  in  New  England, 
should  write  Morton  a  formal  protest  in  the  name  of  all 
the  English  settlers,  reminding  him  that  King  James  of 
happy  memory  had,  as  one  of  his  latest  acts,  issued  a 
royal  proclamation  forbidding  the  sale  of  fire-arms  or 
spirits  to  the  savages,  and  calling  upon  him  as  an  Eng 
lish  subject  to  obey  this  edict. 

If  this  protest  proved  of  none  effect,  the  Governor  of 
Plymouth  pledged  himself  to  suppress  the  rebel  and 
his  mischief  with  the  high  hand. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

STANDISH    AT   MERRY   MOUNT. 

SOME  two  weeks  had  passed  by  since  the  visit  of  the 
committee  of  safety  to  Plymouth ;  long  enough  for 
Bradford,  ever  moderate,  ever  considerate,  to  write  a 
letter  of  kindly  expostulation  to  Morton,  and  to  receive 
an  insolent  and  defiant  reply ;  and  now  in  a  pleasant 
June  afternoon  the  Plymouth  boat,  commanded  by 
Standish,  and  manned  by  eight  picked  followers,  drew 
into  Weymouth  fore-river,  where  upon  the  water-course 
now  known  as  Phillips  Creek,  Weston  and  his  men, 
some  six  or  seven  years  before,  had  founded  their  un 
lucky  settlement. 

The  fate  of  this  settlement  we  have  seen,  and  also 
learned  that  the  houses  protected  by  Standish's  warn 
ing  to  the  savages  had  since  become  the  dwelling-place 
of  some  of  the  followers  of  Ferdinando  Gorges,  that 
showy  personage  who,  coming  to  the  New  World  with 
the  romantic  idea  of  proclaiming  himself  its  governor, 
found  it  so  savage  and  forbidding  of  aspect  that,  after 
a  few  months  spent  mostly  as  a  guest  of  Plymouth,  he 
quietly  returned  to  England,  civilization,  and  a  sover 
eignty  on  paper.  The  houses  repaired  or  built  by  him 
still  remained,  however,  and  among  the  Gorges  men  who 
continued  to  live  in  them  were  the  Mr.  Jeffries  and  Mr. 
Bursley  who  accompanied  Blackstone  and  Maverick  to 
Plymouth. 


STAN  DISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  75 

A  little  below  Phillips  Creek,  the  Monatoquit  River 
empties  into  the  bay,  and  across  the  river  lies  a  fair 
height,  now  included  in  the  town  of  Quincy,  but  then 
known  as  Passonagessit,  whence  one  might  then,  and 
still  may,  look  east  and  north  upon  the  lovely  archi 
pelago  of  Boston  Harbor,  or  westward  to  the  blue  hills 
of  Milton.  On  its  eastern  face  this  height  of  Passon 
agessit  sloped  gently  to  the  sea,  with  good  harborage  for 
boats  at  its  foot,  promising  facilities  for  fishing  and  for 
traffic  with  the  northern  Indians. 

Upon  this  headland  in  the  early  summer  of  1625 
a  wild  and  motley  crowd  of  adventurers  pitched  their 
tents,  and  soon  replaced  the  canvas  with  comfortable 
log-houses  and  a  stockaded  in  closure.  The  leader  of 
this  company  was  one  Captain  Wollaston,  perhaps  the 
same  adventurer  whom  Captain  John  Smith  of  Poca- 
hontas  memory  encountered,  some  fifteen  years  before, 
on  the  high  seas,  acting  as  lieutenant  to  one  Captain 
Barry,  an  English  pirate.  With  Wollaston  were  three 
or  four  partners,  and  a  great  crew  of  bound  servants, 
men  who  had  either  pledged  their  own  time,  or  been 
delivered  into  temporary  slavery  as  punishment  by  Eng 
lish  magistrates,  and  the  purpose  of  the  leaders  was  to 
found  a  settlement  like  that  of  Plymouth.  The  place 
was  named  Mount  Wollaston  by  the  white  men,  while 
the  Indians  continued  to  call  it  Passonagessit,  just  as 
they  still  speak  of  Weymouth  as  Wessagusset.  One 
New  England  winter,  however,  cooled  the  courage  of 
Captain  Wollaston,  as  it  had  that  of  Robert  Gorges,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1626  he  took  about  half  his  bound  men 
to  Virginia,  where  he  sold  their  services  to  the  tobacco 
planters  at  such  a  profit,  that  he  wrote  back  to  Mr. 
Rasdall,  his  second  in  command,  to  bring  down  another 


BETTY  ALLEN. 

gang  as  sotfn  as  possible,  and  to  leave  Mount  Wollaston 
in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Fitcher,  until  he  himself  should 
return  thither. 

Rasdall  obeyed,  and  in  making  his  parting  charges  to 
Fitcher  remarked,  — 

"  All  should  go  well,  so  that  you  keep  Thomas  Mor 
ton  in  check.  Give  him  his  head  and  he  will  run  away 
with  you  and  Wollaston." 

Fitcher  assented  with  a  rueful  countenance,  for  he 
knew  himself  to  be  but  a  timid  rider,  and  the  Morton  a 
most  unruly  steed,  and  the  event  proved  his  fears  well 
grounded,  for  Rasdall  had  not  reached  Virginia  before 
Morton  in  the  lieutenant's  temporary  absence  called  the 
eight  remaining  servants  together,  produced  some  bottles 
of  rum,  a  net  of  lemons,  and  a  bucket  of  sugar,  to 
which  he  bade  his  guests  heartily  welcome,  greeting 
each  man  jovially  by  name,  and  telling  them  that  the 
time  had  come  to  throw  off  their  chains,  to  assert  their 
rights,  and  to  reap  for  themselves  the  benefit  of  their 
hard  work.  He  assured  them  that  he,  although  a  gentle 
man,  a  learned  lawyer,  and  a  man  of  means,  felt  him 
self  no  whit  above  them,  and  asked  nothing  better  than 
to  live  with  them  in  liberty,  fraternity,  and  equality, 
finally  proposing  that  they  should  seize  upon  "  the 
plant  "  of  Mount  Wollaston,  turn  Lieutenant  Fitcher  out 
of  doors,  and  establish  a  commonwealth  of  their  own. 
No  sooner  said  than  done  !  The  men  whom  Morton 
addressed  were,  in  fact,  the  dregs  of  the  company  left 
behind  by  Wollaston  as  not  worth  trading  off.  Perhaps 
he  never  intended  to  come  back  to  claim  them;  per 
haps  if  indeed  he  had  been  a  pirate  he  took  Morton's 
action  as  nothing  more  than  a  reasonable  proceeding ; 
at  any  rate  this  disappearance  of  Captain  Wollaston 


STANDISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  77 

and  Lieutenant  Rasdall  was  final,  and  except  that  the 
neighborhood  of  Passonagessit  is  still  called  Wollaston 
Heights,  the  very  name  of  this  adventurer  would  prob 
ably  have  been  forgotten. 

It  was  at  any  rate  disused,  for  so  soon  as  Lieutenant 
Fitcher  had  been,  as  he  reported  to  Bradford,  "  thrust 
out  a  dores,"  the  name  of  the  place  was  changed  to 
Merry  Mount,  and  the  life  of  debauch  and  profligacy 
promised  by  Morton  inaugurated ;  as  a  natural  conse 
quence,  Merry  Mount  soon  acquired  so  wide  a  fame  for 
license  and  disorder  that  it  became  the  resort  of  the 
lawless  adventurers  who  haunted  the  coast  in  those  days, 
sometimes  calling  themselves  fishermen,  sometimes  pri 
vateers,  and  sometimes  buccaneers,  and  the  whole  affair 
grew  to  be  a  scandal,  not  only  to  Godfearing  Plymouth, 
but  to  those  other  settlements,  of  sober,  law-abiding  folk, 
scattered  up  and  down  the  coast,  especially  when  in  the 
spring  of  1627  Morton  set  up  a  Maypole  at  Merry 
Mount,  and  proclaimed  a  Saturnalia  of  a  week. 

Now  a  Maypole,  and  dancing  around  it  crowned  with 
flowers,  is  in  our  day  a  very  pretty  and  pastoral  affair, 
only  open  to  the  objections  of  cold,  wet,  and  absurdity. 
But  in  old  English  times  it  was  a  very  different  matter, 
being  in  effect  a  remnant  of  heathenesse,  and  the  profli 
gate  worship  of  the  goddess  Flora.  William  Bradford, 
writing  an  account  of  the  attack  upon  Merry  Mount, 
expresses  himself  thus  :  — 

"  They  allso  set  up  a  Maypole,  drinking  and  dancing 
aboute  it  many  days  togeather,  inviting  the  Indean 
women  for  their  consorts,  dancing  and  frisking  to 
geather  like  so  many  fairies  (or  furies,  rather)  and 
worse  practices.  As  if  they  had  anew  revived  and  cele 
brated  the  feastes  of  the  Roman  goddes  Flora,  or  the 
beastly  practices  of  the  madd  Bacchinalians." 


78  BETTY  ALDEN. 

Although  Plymouth  and  its  neighbors  were  shocked 
at  these  practices,  they  would  not  probably  have  inter 
fered,  beyond  a  remonstrance,  with  the  amusements  of 
the  Merry  Mountaineers  had  the  matter  stopped  there, 
but,  as  the  delegates  to  Plymouth  represented,  the  selling 
of  fire-arms  to  the  Indians,  teaching  them  to  shoot,  and 
inflaming  their  murderous  passions  with  alcohol,  was  a 
very  different  matter,  a  matter  of  public  import,  and 
one  to  be  arrested  by  any  means  before  it  went  farther. 

So  after  this  long  digression,  tiresome  no  doubt,  but 
essential  to  understanding  what  follows,  we  come  back 
to  Myles  Standish  and  his  eight  men,  "  first-comers  "  all 
of  them,  pulling  up  their  boat  upon  the  shore  at  Wes- 
sagusset,  just  as  they  had  done  five  years  before.  As 
they  turned  toward  the  path  leading  to  the  stockade,  a 
man  came  hurriedly  down  to  meet  them. 

"  Good-morrow,  Master  Bursley,"  cried  the  captain 
cheerfully.  "  We  are  on  our  way  to  Merry  Mount,  and 
called  to  tell  you  so." 

But  Bursley  held  up  his  hand  with  a  warning  gesture, 
and  so  soon  as  he  was  near  enough  hoarsely  muttered 
in  unconscious  plagiarism,  — 

"  The  devil 's  broke  loose." 

"  Say  you  so,  Bill  Bursley !  "  responded  Standish, 
showing  all  his  broad  white  teeth.  "  I  did  not  know 
he  'd  ever  been  in  the  bilboes  !  " 

"  Morton  's  here  at  the  house,  full  of  liquor  and  swear 
ing  all  sorts  of  wicked  intent  toward  —  well  now,  Cap 
tain,  if  you  won't  take  it  amiss,  I  '11  tell  you  that  he 
calls  you  Captain  Shrimp  !  " 

"  Following  Master  Oldhame,"  replied  Standish  care 
lessly.  "  I  must  marvel  at  the  lack  of  sound  wit  at  Wes- 
sagusset  when  so  small  a  jest  has  to  serve  so  many  men, 
But  you  say  this  roysterer  is  here  in  your  house  ?  " 


STANDISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  79 

"  No,  in  Jeffries'  house.  He  came  this  morning  ask 
ing  that  we  should  return  with  him  to  Merry  Mount  and 
help  him  against  the  i  Plymouth  insolents '  as  he  called 
you." 

"  And  what  answer  did  he  get,  Master  Bursley  ?  " 

"  What  but  nay  ?  "  demanded  Bursley  with  a  glance 
of  honest  surprise.  "  Was  not  I  one  of  those  who  came 
the  other  day  to  Plymouth  begging  Governor  Bradford 
to  take  order  with  this  rebel  ?  But  he  has  been  drink 
ing,  and  is  in  such  a  woundy  bad  humor  that  but  now 
he  drew  a  knife  upon  Jeffries,  and  may  have  slain  him 
outright  before  this." 

"  Say  you  so  !  Then,  let  us  hasten  and  bury  him  with 
all  due  honors !  "  exclaimed  the  captain,  in  whose  nos 
trils  the  breath  of  battle  was  ever  a  pleasant  savor. 
"  Howland,  Alden,  Browne,  all  of  you,  my  merry  men  ! 
Leave  the  boat  snug,  and  follow  to  the  house,  to  chat 
with  Master  Morton  who  awaits  us  there." 

And  the  captain  sped  joyously  up  the  path,  looking  to 
the  priming  of  his  long  pistols,  and  loosening  Gideon  in 
his  scabbard  as  he  went.  A  rod  from  the  house,  how 
ever,  a  bullet  nearly  found  its  billet  in  his  brain,  while 
on  the  threshold  stood  Morton,  his  face  flushed,  his  gait 
unsteady,  and  a  smoking  pistol  in  his  hand. 

"  Hola !  Captain  Shrimp,  I  warn  you  stand  out  of 
range  of  my  pistol  practice.  You  might  get  a  hurt  by 
chance  !  "  cried  he,  raising  another  pistol,  but  before  it 
could  be  aimed,  or  the  captain  take  action,  somebody 
within  the  house  struck  up  the  madman's  arm,  and  as  he 
turned  savagely  upon  this  new  foe,  Standish,  whose 
muscles  were  strong  and  elastic  as  a  panther's,  sprang 
across  the  intervening  space,  and  seizing  his  prisoner  by 
the  collar  shouted,  — 


80  1ETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Yield,  Morton,  or  you  're  but  a  dead  man  !  " 

"  One  man  may  well  yield  to  a  mob,"  muttered  Mor 
ton  sullenly;  and  seeing  that  he  was  disarmed,  Standish 
released  his  hold  saying  quietly,  — 

"  Fair  and  softly,  Master  Morton  !  Governor  Brad 
ford  sends  me  and  these  men,  praying  for  your  com 
pany  at  Plymouth,  so  soon  as  may  be.  If  you  will  go 
quietly,  well ;  but  if  you  resist,  you  will  go  all  the  same  ; 
so  choose  you." 

"  The  Governor  of  Plymouth  does  me  too  much  honor 
to  send  so  many  of  his  servants  with  the  major-domo  at 
the  head,"  replied  Morton  bitterly.  "  And  sith  as  you 
say  the  invitation  may  not  be  refused,  I  '11  e'en  accept  it, 
but  would  first  return  to  Merry  Mount  to  fetch  some 
clothes  and  set  my  house  in  order." 

"  Your  return  to  Merry  Mount  will  be  as  the  gov 
ernor  orders  hereafter.  I  was  bid  to  bring  you  to  Ply 
mouth  without  delay,  and  that  I  shall  do." 

"  But  not  to-night,  I  trust,  Captain  Standish,"  inter 
posed  Jeffries.  "  A  shrewd  tempest  is  threatening,  and 
by  the  time  it  is  past,  night  will  be  upon  us  and  no 
moon." 

"  With  the  shoals  and  sandbars  of  this  coast  thick 
as  plums  in  a  Christmas  pudding,"  remarked  Philip  De 
la  Noye,  whereat  Peter  Browne  growled,  "  Make  it  a 
Thanksgiving  pudding,  an  it  please  you,  Master  Philip. 
We  hold  no  Papist  feasts  here." 

Stepping  outside  the  door,  Standish  took  a  survey  of 
the  skies,  the  sea,  and  the  forest,  already  waving  its 
green  boughs  in  welcome  to  the  coming  rain. 

"  Do  you  hear  the  '  calling  of  the  sea,'  Captain  ?  " 
asked  a  Cornish  man,  placing  his  curved  hand  behind 
his  ear,  and  bending  it  to  catch  the  deep  murmur  and 


STAN  DISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  81 

wail  that  float  shoreward  from  the  hollow  of  ocean  when 
a  thunder-storm  is  gathering  in  its  unknown  spaces. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Standish  in  an  unusually  hushed 
voice,  "  we  will  stay  awhile ;  perhaps  the  night,  if  our 
friends  can  keep  us." 

"  Glad  and  gayly,"  said  Jeffries,  who,  truth  to  tell, 
was  a  little  afraid  that  the  remaining  garrison  of  Merry 
Mount  might  descend  upon  his  house  in  the  night  to  res 
cue  their  leader  or  avenge  his  loss. 

"And  we  '11  feast  you  on  the  pair  of  wild  turkeys  my 
boy  shot  to-day,"  cried  Bursley.  "  Come,  wie  '11  make  a 
night  on  't,  sith  there  are  not  beds  enough  for  all  to  lie 
down." 

"  With  your  leave,  sirs,  I  will  claim  one  of  those  beds 
and  take  my  rest  while  I  may,"  broke  in  Morton  sourly. 
"  I  have  no  mind  for  reveling  with  tipstaves  and 
jailers." 

'*  Ne'ertheless  you  might  keep  a  civil  tongue  in  your 
head,  Morton,"  angrily  exclaimed  Browne,  but  Standish 
interposed,  — 

"  Tut,  tut,  man  !  Never  jibe  at  a  prisoner.  A  bruised 
creature  ever  solaces  itself  with  its  tongue,  and  so  may 
a  bruised  man.  Let  him  alone  !  " 

"  Thank  you  for  nothing,  Captain  Shrimp  !  "  snarled 
Morton ;  but  Standish  only  nodded  good-humoredly,  and 
began  looking  about  to  see  if  the  log  hut  could  be  made 
secure  for  the  night.  Finally,  a  small  bedroom  off  the 
principal  or  living  room  was  set  aside  for  Morton, 
the  window  shutter  nailed  from  the  outside,  and  a  mu.i 
set  to  watch  beside  him,  and  be  responsible  for  his  safety. 

The  turkeys  were  soon  plucked,  dressed,  and  each 
hung  by  a  string  tied  to  one  leg  before  a  rousing  fire,  so 
oppressive  for  the  June  night,  that  Standish  retreated 


82  BETTY  ALDEN. 

to  a  shed  at  the  back  of  the  house,  and  stood  watching 
the  magnificent  spectacle  of  the  tempest  now  in  full 
force.  On  one  side  lay  the  primeval  forest,  dense  and 
gloomy  with  its  evergreen  growth,  through  whose  serried 
ranks  the  mad  wind  ploughed  like  a  charge  of  cavalry, 
rending  the  giants  limb  from  limb,  lashing  the  bowed 
heads  of  those  who  resisted,  trampling  down  in  its  sav 
age  fury  old  and  young,  the  sturdy  veterans  and  the 
helpless  saplings. 

At  the  other  hand  lay  the  ocean,  seen  through  a  slant 
veil  of  hurtling  rain,  its  waters  flat  and  foaming  like  the 
head  of  a  tigress  that  lays  back  her  ears  and  gnashes 
her  teeth  as  she  crouches  for  her  spring,  and  ever  and 
anon,  between  the  crashing  peals  of  thunder  and  the 
splitting  report  of  some  lightning  bolt  riving  the  heart 
of  oak  or  mast  of  pine,  came  the  weird  "  calling  of  the 
sea,"  the  voice  of  deep  crying  unto  deep  :  — 

"  Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ?  Watchman,  what 
of  the  night?  The  watchman  said,  The  morning  com- 
eth,  and  also  the  night :  if  ye  will  inquire,  inquire  ye !  " 
"  But  hurt  not  the  earth,  neither  the  sea,  nor  the  trees, 
till  we  shall  have  sealed  the  servants  of  our  God  !  " 

In  face  of  this  vast  antiphony,  Morton  of  Merry 
Mount  and  his  concerns  sank  to  insignificance  ;  and  so 
felt  Myles  Standish,  who  had  all  the  love  of  nature  in 
separable  from  a  great  heart ;  but  his  had  not  been  so 
great  had  it  been  capable  of  slighting  the  meanest  duty, 
and  his  last  act  before  midnight  when  he  lay  down  for  a 
few  hours'  repose  was  to  see  that  his  prisoner  was  both 
safe  and  comfortable,  and  that  two  reliable  men  were 
upon  the  watch.  One  of  these  was  Richard  Soule  and 
the  other  John  Alden,  to  whom  the  captain  said,  — 

"  Now  mind  you,  Jack,  it  has  been  a  hard  day's  work. 


STAN  DISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  83 

and  our  friends'  hospitality  full  liberal.  Do  you  feel 
your  head  heavy  ?  If  so,  say  the  word,  and  I  '11  watch 
myself  and  be  none  the  worse  for  it  on  the  morrow. 
Speak  honest  truth  now,  lad." 

But  Alden  so  indignantly  protested  that  nothing  could 
tempt  him  to  sleep  in  such  an  emergency,  and  so  affec 
tionately  besought  his  friend  to  take  some  rest,  that  the 
captain  at  length  complied,  much  to  the  delight  of  Mor 
ton,  who,  feigning  sleep,  had  listened  to  the  conversa 
tion. 

Twelve  o'clock,  and  one,  and  two  passed  quietly,  yet 
not  unnoted,  for  Morton,  among  other  claims  to  distinc 
tion,  was  the  possessor  of  a  "pocket-clock,"  the  only 
one  at  Wessagusset  that  night,  since  even  Standish  did 
not  aspire  to  such  luxury,  and  was  well  content  to  divide 
his  day  by  the  sun  and  the  dial,  if  it  were  clear,  or  by 
his  instinct,  if  it  were  stormy,  while  the  night  was  told 
by  its  stars,  the  deeper  and  lessening  darkness,  or  the 
chill  that  always  precedes  the  dawn.  Half  past  two, 
and  the  prisoner  turned  himself  silently  upon  his  bed. 
At  its  foot  sat  John  Alden,  his  snaphance  between  his 
knees,  and  his  head  fallen  forward  and  sidewise  till  he 
seemed  to  be  peering  down  its  barrel ;  but  alas,  his  ster 
torous  breathing  proclaimed  that  nature  had  succumbed 
to  fatigue  and  the  watchman  was  fast  asleep. 

A  smile  of  elfish  glee  widened  Morton's  already  wide 
and  loose-lipped  mouth  and  twinkled  in  his  beady  eyes, 
as  without  a  sound,  and  with  the  cautious  movements 
of  a  cat,  he  stole  off  the  bed,  seized  his  doublet  which 
had  been  laid  aside,  and  crept  out  of  the  bedroom  into 
the  kitchen  where,  with  his  head  and  shoulders  sprawl 
ing  over  the  table,  and  his  piece  lying  upon  it,  Richard 
Soule  lay  sweetly  dreaming  of  seizing  the  rebel  by  the 


84  BETTY  ALDEN. 

hair  of  his  head,  and  dragging  him  to  the  foot  of  a  gal 
lows  high  as  Haraan's.  With  the  same  malicious  grin 
and  the  same  cat-like  movement  Morton  stole  rapidly 
past  this  second  Cerberus,  pausing  only  to  secure  his 
snaphance.  The  outer  door  was  made  fast  by  an  oaken 
bar  dropped  into  iron  staples,  and  this  the  runaway 
lightly  lifted  out  and  stood  against  the  wall ;  but  as  he 
opened  the  door,  the  storm  tore  it  from  his  hand,  threw 
down  the  bar,  extinguished  the  candles,  and  roused  the 
sleepers. 

Myles  Standish,  whose  vigilant  brain  had  warned  him 
even  through  a  heavy  sleep  that  there  was  danger  in 
the  camp,  was  already  afoot  and  groping  for  the  ladder 
whereby  to  descend  from  his  loft  when  the  shriek  of  the 
wind  and  the  bewildered  outcries  of  the  watch  told  him 
what  had  happened,  and  like  a  whirlwind  he  was  down 
the  steps,  calling  upon  Alden  and  Soule,  and  loudly  de 
manding  news  of  their  prisoner. 

"  He  's  gone  !  He  's  gone  !  "  cried  Soule,  while  Alden 
mutely  bestirred  himself  with  flint  and  steel  to  strike  a 
light.  When  it  was  obtained,  and  disastrous  certainty 
replaced  the  captain's  worst  suspicions,  his  anger  knew 
no  bounds,  and  the  hot  temper,  generally  controlled,  for 
once  burst  its  limits  and  poured  out  a  short,  sharp  tor 
rent  of  words  that  had  better  never  have  been  spoken, 
until  at  last  John  Alden,  slowly  roused  to  a  state  of 
wrath  very  foreign  to  his  nature,  retorted,  — 

"  The  next  time  that  Nell  Billington  is  brought  be 
fore  the  court  as  a  scold,  it  might  be  well  to  present 
Myles  Standish  along  with  her.  What  say  you,  Dick  ?  " 

"  Haw  !  Haw  !  "  roared  Soule,  who,  although  a  worthy 
citizen,  was  not  a  man  of  fine  sensibilities.  Standish 
glanced  at  him  with  angry  contempt,  and  then  fixed  his 


STAN  DISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  85 

eyes  upon  Alden  with  a  look  before  which  that  honest 
fellow  shrunk,  and  colored  fiery  red  as  he  stammered,  — 

"I  —  I  said  amiss  —  nay,  then,  —  forgive  me,  Cap 
tain." 

"  The  captain  can  easily  forgive  what  the  friend  will 
not  soon  forget,  John,"  said  Standish  gravely,  for  in 
deed  the  brief  treason  of  his  ancient  henchman  had 
struck  deep  into  the  proud,  loving  heart  of  the  soldier. 
"But,"  continued  he  in  the  same  breath,  "this  is  no 
time  for  private  grievances  —  follow  me  !  " 

And  opening  the  door  he  dashed  out  into  the  night, 
and  down  the  path  to  the  rude  pier  where  his  own  boat 
and  the  two  belonging  to  the  settlement  were  made  fast. 
As  he  approached,  a  figure  slipped  away,  and  was  lost  in 
the  neighboring  thicket ;  Myles  could  not  see  it,  but  sur 
mised  it,  and  quick  as  thought  a  rattling  charge  of  buck 
shot  followed  the  slight  sound  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
amid  the  clashing  of  branches,  the  scream  of  the  wind, 
and  the  sobbing  blows  of  the  surf  upon  the  shore. 

Morton,  lying  flat  upon  his  face  behind  a  big  poplar, 
heard  the  shot  fall  around  him,  and  knew  that  more 
would  come  ;  so,  pursuing  the  tactics  of  his  Indian  allies, 
he  wriggled  backward,  still  clinging  as  closely  as  possi 
ble  to  mother  earth,  until,  arrived  at  the  roots  of  a  giant 
oak,  he  drew  himself  upright  behind  it,  and  stood  silent 
and  waiting.  The  captain  waited  also,  and  in  a  moment 
came  the  green  glare  both  men  counted  upon,  and  while 
Myles  springing  forward  searched  the  thicket  with  an 
other  storm  of  shot  and  then  with  foot  and  sword,  Mor 
ton,  taking  a  rapid  survey  of  the  situation,  selected  his 
route,  and  sheltered  by  the  crash  of  thunder  which 
drowned  all  other  sounds  sprang  from  the  oak  to  a 
clump  of  cedars  higher  up  the  hill,  and  so,  guided  by  the 


86  BETTY  ALDES. 

lightning,  and  screened  from  the  quick  ear  of  his  pur 
suer  by  the  thunder,  he  gradually  gained  the  trail  made 
by  the  Indians  between  Wessagusset  and  the  head 
waters  of  the  tidal  river  Monatoquit;  crossing  this 
channel  with  infinite  danger,  the  fugitive  made  his  way 
down  the  other  bank,  and  about  daylight  reached  Merry 
Mount  greatly  to  the  astonishment  of  the  only  three  of 
his  comrades  who  remained  at  home,  the  rest  of  the 
garrison  having  gone  under  guidance  of  some  of  their 
Indian  allies  to  trade  for  beaver  in  the  interior. 

Standish  meanwhile,  finding  that  the  prisoner  had 
made  good  his  escape,  returned  to  the  house,  and  setting 
aside  the  condolences  of  his  hosts  and  the  shamefaced 
penitence  of  Richard  Soule,  for  John  Alden  said  never 
a  word,  he  passed  the  remaining  hours  of  darkness  in 
examining  his  weapons,  in  pacing  up  and  down  his  nar 
row  quarters,  gnawing  his  mustache,  fondling  the  hilt  of 
Gideon,  and  looking  out  of  the  door  or  the  unglazed 
window-place.  The  hosts  meantime  bestirred  themselves 
to  prepare  a  savory  meal  of  venison  steaks,  corn  cakes, 
and  mighty  ale,  to  which,  just  as  the  first  streaks  of 
daylight  appeared  through  the  breaking  clouds,  the 
whole  party  sat  down,  the  stern  and  silent  captain 
among  them,  for  angry  and  mortified  though  he  was,  the 
old  soldier  had  served  in  too  many  rude  campaigns  not 
to  secure  his  rations  when  and  where  they  might  be 
had.  But  the  meal  was  very  different  from  the  jolly 
supper  of  the  night  before,  and  it  was  rather  a  relief 
when  the  captain  rising  briefly  ordered,  — 

"  Fall  in,  men  !  To  the  boat  with  you.  Our  thanks 
for  your  kind  entertainment,  Master  Jeffries,  and  you, 
Master  Bursley.  We  will  let  you  know  the  ending  of 
our  enterprise  so  soon  as  may  be." 


STANDISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  87 

And  as  the  sun  rose  across  the  sea,  whose  blue  expanse 
dimpled  and  laughed  at  thought  of  its  wild  frolic  during 
his  absence,  the  Plymouth  boat,  crossing  the  mouth  of 
the  Monatoquit  and  skirting  its  marshy  basin,  drew  in 
to  the  landing  place  of  Merry  Mount,  not  without  ex 
pectation  of  a  volley  from  some  ambush  near  at  hand. 
None  such  came,  however,  and  so  soon  as  the  boat  was 
secured,  the  captain,  deploying  his  men  in  open  order 
that  a  shot  might  harm  no  more  than  one,  led  them  up 
the  gentle  slope  and  halted  in  the  shelter  of  a  clump  of 
cedars,  whose  survivor  stands  to-day  lifeless  and  broken, 
but  yet  a  witness  to  the  mad  revels  of  Merry  Mount  and 
their  sombre  ending.  His  men  safe,  Standish  himself 
advanced  to  parley  with  the  garrison.  As  he  emerged 
from  the  shelter  of  the  grove  Alden  silently  stepped  be 
hind,  and  would  have  followed,  but  the  captain,  without 
looking  round,  coldly  said,  — 

"  Remain  here,  Lieutenant  Alden,  until  you  are  or 
dered  forward,"  and  the  young  man  slunk  back  just  as 
a  bullet  whistled  past  the  captain's  ear.  Pulling  his 
handkerchief  from  his  pocket  Standish  thrust  his  bayo 
net  through  the  corner,  and  holding  it  above  his  head, 
advanced  until  Morton's  voice  shouted  through  a  port 
hole  beside  the  door,  — 

"  Halt,  there,  Captain  Shrimp  !  I  'm  on  my  own  do 
main  here,  garrisoned,  armed,  victualed,  and  ready  for 
a  siege.  What  do  you  want,  Shrimp  ?  " 

"  I  demand  the  body  of  Thomas  Morton,  and  if  the 
garrison  of  this  place  are  wise,  they  will  yield  it  up  be 
fore  it  is  taken  by  force  of  arms  and  their  hold  burned 
over  their  heads." 

A  little  silence  ensued,  for  the  threat  of  fire  was  a 
formidable  one,  and  Morton's  three  assistants  had 


88  BETTY  ALDEy. 

counted  the  enemy's  force  as  it  landed,  and  were  now 
clamoring  for  surrender.  But  he,  who  at  least  was  no 
coward,  retorted  upon  them  with  a  grotesque  oath  that 
alone,  if  need  be,  he  would  chase  these  psalm-singers  into 
the  ocean,  and  returning  to  the  porthole  shouted  again,  — 

"  Hola  !  Captain,  Captain  Shrimp  "  — 

"  I  hold  no  parley  with  one  so  ignorant  of  the  uses  of 
war  as  to  insult  a  flag  of  truce,"  interposed  Standish, 
and  Morton  laughing  boisterously  rejoined,  — 

"  I  cry  you  mercy,  noble  sir,  and  will  in  future,  that 
is  to  say,  the  near  future,  treat  you  with  all  the  honor 
due  to  the  Generalissimo  of  the  Plymouth  Army.  And 
now  deign,  most  puissant  leader,  to  satisfy  me  as  to  the 
intent  of  the  Governor  of  Plymouth  should  he  gain  pos 
session  of  the  body  of  Thomas  Morton,  that  is  to  say  of 
the  living  body,  for  should  you  see  fit  to  carry  him 
naught  but  a  murdered  carcass,  well  I  wot  he  would 
hang  it  to  the  wall  of  his  Fort  upon  the  hill  to  keep  com 
pany  with  the  skull  of  Wituwamat.  So  again  I  demand 
—  and  I  crave  your  pardon,  most  worshipful,  if  I  am 
somewhat  prolix  ;  but  indeed  it  is  such  a  merry  sight  to 
watch  your  noble  countenance  waxing  more  and  more 
rubicund  and  wrathful  while  I  speak  "  — 

"  When  I  have  counted  ten  I  shall  order  the  assault 
if  I  have  no  reasonable  answer  sooner,"  interrupted 
Standish  briefly.  "  One,  two  "  — 

"  Hold,  hold,  man  !  Why  so  violent  and  rash  ?  Tell 
me  in  a  word  what  will  Bradford  do  with  me  an  I 
yield  ?  " 

"  Send  you  to  England  for  trial." 

"  Trial  on  what  count  ?  "  And  as  he  asked  the  ques 
tion  Morton's  voice  took  on  a  new  tone,  one  of  anxiety 
and  even  alarm,  for  conscience  was  clamoring  that  a  dark 


STAN  DISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  89 

story  of  robbery  and  murder  might  have  followed  him 
from  the  western  shores  of  Old  England  to  the  eastern 
coast  of  New.  But  Standish's  reply  reassured  him. 

"  For  selling  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  Indians 
contrary  to  the  king's  proclamation." 

"  And  what  is  a  proclamation,  Master  General  ?  "  de 
manded  the  rebel  truculently.  "  Mayhap  you  do  not 
know  that  I,  Thomas  Morton,  Gentleman,  am  a  clerk 
learned  in  the  law,  a  solicitor  and  barrister  of  Clifford's 
Inn,  London,  and  I  assure  you  that  a  royal  proclama 
tion  is  not  law,  and  its  breach  entails  no  penalty.  Do 
you  comprehend  this  subtlety,  mine  ancient  ?  Suppose 
I  have  broken  a  proclamation  of  King  James's,  what 
penalty  have  I  incurred,  if  not  that  of  the  law  ?  " 

"  The  penalty  of  those  who  disobey  and  insult  a  king, 
whatever  that  may  be,"  sturdily  replied  Standish.  "  But 
all  that "  — 

"  Nay,  nay ;  know  you  not,  most  valiant  Generalissimo, 
that  while  a  law  entered  upon  the  statute  book  of  Eng 
land  remains  in  force  until  it  is  repealed,  a  royal  procla 
mation  dies  with  the  monarch  who  utters  it  ?  King 
James's  proclamation  sleeps  with  him  at  Westminster, 
and  I  never  have  heard  that  King  Charles  has  uttered 
any." 

"  Let  it  be  so  !  I  know  naught  and  care  less  for  these 
quips  and  quiddities  of  the  law.  The  Standishes  are 
not  pettifoggers  of  Clifford's  nor  any  other  Inn.  My 
errand  is  to  fetch  you  to  Plymouth,  and  there  has  been 
more  than  enough  delay  already.  Will  you  surrender 
peaceably  ?  " 

"  Surrender !  Why  look  you  here,  man,  or  rather  take 
my  word  for  it  sith  you  may  not  look.  My  table  is  spread 
with  dishes  of  powder,  and  bowls  of  shot,  and  flagons  of 


90  BETTY  ALDEN. 

Dutch  courage  ;  we  are  a  goodly  garrison,  and  armed  to 
the  teeth  ;  we  are  behind  walls,  and  could,  if  we  willed, 
pick  you  off  man  by  man  without  giving  you  the  chance 
of  a  return  shot.  In  fact,  it  is  only  my  tenderness  of 
human  life  that  holds  me  back  from  greeting  you  as  you 
deserve  "  — 

"  Enough,  enough !  I  will  wait  here  no  longer  to  be 
the  butt  of  your  ribaldry.  Before  you  can  patter  a 
prayer  we  will  smoke  you  out  of  your  hole  like  rats." 

And  Myles  was  in  fact  retreating  upon  the  body  of 
his  command  when  Morton  hailed  again,  — 

"  Hold,  hold,  my  valiant !  I  was  about  to  say  that  I 
purpose  surrender,  both  to  save  the  effusion  of  human 
blood  and  to  prevent  damage  to  the  house,  which  al 
though  no  lordly  castle  serves  our  turn  indifferently  well 
as  a  shelter." 

"  You  surrender,  do  you  ?  " 

"  On  conditions,  Captain.  The  garrison  shall  retain 
its  colors  and  arms,  and  march  out  with  all  the  hon 
ors  "  — 

"  Pshaw,  man !  I  know  as  well  as  you  that  four  of 
your  men  are  away,  and  that  there  can  be  no  more  than 
three  with  you.  As  for  conditions,  it  is  our  part  to  dic 
tate  them,  and  I  hereby  offer  your  men  their  freedom  if 
they  abandon  the  evil  practices  learned  of  their  betters. 
For  yourself  I  promise  naught  but  safe  convoy  to  Ply 
mouth." 

"  '  Perdition  seize  thee,  ruthless  '  Shrimp  !  "  shouted 
Morton  in  a  fury  ;  '•  we  will  come  out  and  drive  you  into 
the  sea  to  feed  the  fishes." 

"  Ay,  come  out  as  fast  as  you  may,  or  you  '11  be 
smoked  out  like  so  many  wasps,"  retorted  Standish, 
tearing  away  his  flag  of  truce,  and  waving  his  sword  as 


STANDISH  AT  MERRY  MOUNT.  91 

signal  for  the  advance  of  his  little  troop,  four  of  whom 
carried  blazing  torches.  But  Morton,  although  he  had 
stimulated  his  courage  a  little  too  freely,  had  not  quite 
lost  sight  of  that  discretion  which  is  valor's  better  part, 
and  absolutely  sure  that  whatever  Standish  threatened 
he  would  fully  perform,  he  resolved  at  all  events  to  save 
his  house ;  so  seizing  a  handful  of  buckshot  he  crammed 
it  into  his  already  overloaded  piece,  called  upon  his  men 
to  follow,  and  flinging  open  the  door  rushed  out  shout 
ing' — 

"  Death  to  Standish !  Death !  Death !  "  But  the 
clumsy  musket  was  too  heavy  for  his  inebriated  grasp, 
and  before  he  could  bring  it  to  an  aim  Standish  sprang 
in,  seized  the  barrel  with  one  hand  and  Morton's  collar 
with  the  other,  at  the  same  time  so  twisting  his  right 
foot  between  the  rebel's  legs  as  to  bring  him  flat  upon 
his  back,  while  the  blunderbuss  harmlessly  exploding 
supplied  the  din  of  battle. 

"  There,  my  lad,  that  's  a  Lancashire  fall,"  cried 
Standish  with  an  angry  laugh.  "  They  did  n't  teach 
you  that  in  Clifford's  Inn,  did  they  now  ?  " 

"  Oh,  murder  !  murder  !  I  'm  but  a  dead  man  !  Oh ! 
Oh  !  "  shrieked  the  voice  of  one  of  the  besieged,  and 
Standish  turning  sharply  demanded,  — 

"  Who  gave  the  order  to  strike  ?  Alden,  how  dare 
you  attack  without  orders  !  "  — 

"I  attacked  nobody,  Captain  Standish,"  replied  John 
Alden  more  nearly  in  the  same  tone  than  he  had  ever 
addressed  his  beloved  commander.  "  I  carried  my  sword 
in  my  hand  thus,  and  was  making  in  to  the  house  when 
this  drunken  fool  stumbled  out  and  ran  his  nose  against 
the  point.  He  '11  be  none  the  worse  for  a  little  blood 
letting." 


92  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Two  of  my  fellows  were  drunk,  and  one  an  arrant 
coward,  or  you  had  not  made  so  easy  a  venture  of  your 
piracy,"  snarled  Morton  viciously,  and  one  of  the 
younger  of  the  Plymouth  men  would  have  dealt  him  a 
blow  with  the  flat  of  his  sword,  but  Standish  struck  it 
up  saying  sternly,  — 

"  Hands  off,  Philip  De  la  Noye,  or  you  '11  feel  the  edge 
instead  of  the  flat  of  my  sword.  Know  you  nothing, 
nothing  at  all  of  the  usages  of  war  that  you  would  strike 
an  unarmed  prisoner  !  " 

A  few  moments  more  and  the  whole  affair  was  over. 
Morton's  three  men,  foolish,  worthless  fellows,  hardly 
dangerous  even  under  his  guidance,  and  perfectly  harm 
less  when  deprived  of  it,  were  set  at  liberty  with  a  stern 
warning  from  Standish  that  they  were  simply  left  at 
Merry  Mount  on  probation,  and  that  the  smallest  diso 
bedience  to  the  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  fire-arms,  or 
instruction  of  the  Indians  in  their  use,  would  at  once  be 
known  at  Plymouth  and  most  severely  punished. 

"  As  for  your  Maypole,  and  your  Indian  blowzabellas, 
and  your  dancing  and  mummery,"  concluded  the  cap 
tain,  "  I  for  one  have  naught  to  say,  except  that  tliere 
must  be  some  warlock-work  in  the  matter  to  tempt  even 
a  squaw  to  frisk  round  a  Maypole  with  such  as  you." 

Morton,  sullen,  silent,  and  disarmed,  was  meantime 
led  to  the  boat  between  Alden  and  Rowland,  the  other 
men  after,  and  last  of  all  Standish  muttering,  — 

"  Better  if  there  had  been  a  garrison  strong  enough 
to  hold  the  position.  Then  we  might  have  burned  the 
house  and  haply  slain  the  traitor  in  hot  blood." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   KYLOE   COW. 

« BARBARA!  Wife!" 

"  I  am  here,  Myles,  straining  the  milk.  I  shall  make 
some  furmety  for  supper.  Even  Lora  begins  to  beg  for 
it,  and  the  boys  dote  upon  it,  little  knaves  !  " 

"  Let  the  furmety  wait  for  a  bit,  and  come  out  here 
to  see  old  Manomet  in  the  evening  light.  'T  is  a  sight 
I  never  tire  of." 

"  Ay,  't  is  very  fair,"  replied  Barbara  coldly,  as  she 
came  and  sat  for  a  moment  upon  the  bench  at  the  cot 
tage  door,  where  Myles  was  wont  to  smoke  his  pipe, 
and  muse  upon  many  matters  never  brought  to  words. 

A  little  lower  down  the  hill  Alick  and  his  brother 
Myles  were  playing  with  John  and  Joseph  Alden,  while 
Betty,  a  stick  in  her  hand,  drove  all  four  boys  before 
her,  she  with  mimic  airs  of  anger  and  they  of  terror. 

"  Very  fair !  "  echoed  the  captain  irritably.  "  You 
know  naught  and  care  less  for  Nature,  Bab.  Your 
thought  never  gets  beyond  your  furmety  pot  or  Alick's 
breeches." 

"  And  that 's  all  the  better  for  you  and  Alick,  Myles," 
replied  the  wife  in  her  usual  placid  tones  ;  but  then,  with 
one  of  those  sudden  revulsions  by  which  placid  people 
occasionally  surprise  their  friends,  she  drew  in  her  breath 
with  something  between  a  sob  and  a  groan  and  burst  out : 

"  Oh,  Myles !  Myles !    Nature  do  you  call  it,  and  I 


94  BETTY  ALDEN. 

not  love  the  face  of  Nature  do  you  say  !  Nay,  man,  this 
is  not  Nature,  these  dark  woods  and  barren  sands  and 
lonesome  hills,  with  never  a  chimney  in  sight,  —  that 's 
not  the  Nature  I  love  and  long  for.  My  heart  goes  back 
to  the  pleasant  fields  and  good  old  hills  of  Man.  There 
are  mountains  grander  by  far  than  yon  dark  Manomet, 
as  you  call  it,  and  yet  pranked  all  over  with  cottages, 
where  honest  folk  find  a  home  and  the  stranger  is  ever 
welcome.  And  then  the  fair  valleys  between,  with  the 
peaceful  steads  where  men  are  born  and  die  in  sight  of 
their  fathers'  graves,  and  the  old  thatched  roofs,  and 
the  stonecrop  on  the  walls,  and  the  roses  clambering 
over  the  casements,  and  oh,  the  little  kyloe  cows  com 
ing  home  at  night,  and  the  poultry  "  — 

She  paused  abruptly  and  threw  her  apron  over  her 
face.  Myles  carefully  knocked  the  ashes  out  of  his 
pipe,  laid  it  upon  a  ledge  above  the  bench,  and  taking 
his  wife  by  the  arm  led  her  into  the  house  where  he 
might  seat  her  upon  his  knee  with  no  risk  of  scandaliz 
ing  chance  spectators.  Then  he  calmly  said,  — 

"  The  worst  of  quiet  creatures  like  you,  Bab,  is  that 
a  man  never  knows  the  fire  's  alight  till  the  house  is  in  a 
blaze.  Now  as  you,  or  was  it  Priscilla  Alden,  said  once 
of  me,  '  A  little  pot 's  soon  hot,'  and  all  the  world  is 
forced  to  know  it,  but  you,  —  art  homesick  for  the  old 
country,  lass  ?  " 

"  Nay,  Myles,  there  is  no  home  to  be  sick  for ;  all 
is  changed  there ;  but  I  would  like  it  better  if  we  had 
a  little  holding  of  our  own,  and  our  own  cow,  and  some 
ducks,  and  a  goose  fattening  for  Michaelmas." 

"  But  you  share  the  great  red  cow  with  Winslow's 
folk,  and  have  milk  enough  for  your  furmety,  sweet 
heart  !  "  And  the  grim  warrior  smiled  as  tenderly  as 


THE  KYLOE  COW.  95 

a  mother  upon  the  flushed  wet  face  so  near  his  own. 
Barbara  smiled  too,  and  wiping  away  the  tears  sat  up 
right,  but  was  not  allowed  to  leave  her  somewhat  undig 
nified  position  upon  her  husband's  knee. 

"There,  Myles,  'tis  past  now,  and  I  will  be  more 
sensible  "  — 

u  Prythee  don't,  child  !    I  like  thee  better  thus." 

"  Nay,  but  we  're  growing  old  folk,  goodman,  and  it 
behooves  us  to  be  sober  and  recollected  "  — 

"  Nonsense,  nonsense,  Bab ;  there  's  no  lass  among 
them  all  that  shows  so  fair  a  rose  upon  her  cheek,  or 
such  a  wealth  of  sunny  hair,  as  my  Bab,  and  as  for 
thine  eyes,  lass,  they  are  a  marvel "  — 

"  Now !  now !  now !  well  then,  dear,  I  '11  behave 
myself,  after  all  that  sweet  flattery,  and  —  come,  let  us 
go  out  and  look  at  Manomet." 

"  Nay.  Your  longing  for  a  place  you  may  call  your 
own,  and  have  your  kine  and  poultry  and  all  that  about 
you,  marries  so  well  with  a  thought  I  've  been  turning 
over  and  over  in  my  mind  for  a  month  or  more,  that 
I  '11  e'en  give  it  you  now,  and  Manomet  and  the  furmety 
may  wait  another  ten  minutes,  or  so." 

"  Well,  then,  let  me  but  take  my  knitting  "  — 

"  No.  You  shall  do  naught  but  listen,  and  you  shall  sit 
where  you  are  !  For  once  I  '11  have  your  whole  mind  "  — 

"  For  once,  Myles !  " 

"  Ay,  for  once,  —  look  as  grieved  as  you  may  out  of 
those  eyen  of  yours  !  Well  enough  do  you  know  that 
Alick,  and  little  Myles,  and  now  Mistress  Lora  have 
well-nigh  pushed  their  poor  old  dad  out  of  their  mo 
ther's  heart  "  — 

"  Myles  !    Dost  really  think  it,  love  ?  " 

The  captain  held  his  wife  as  far  from  him  as  her  seat 


96  BETTY  ALDEN. 

upon  his  knee  would  allow,  and  eagerly  read  her  fair 
troubled  face,  her  tender  blushes,  quivering  lips,  and 
lovely,  loving  eyes,  where  the  tears  stood  and  yet  were 
restrained  from  falling  —  read  and  read  as  men  devour 
with  incredulous  eyes  some  voucher  of  almost  incredible 
good  fortune.  Then  he  slowly  said,  — 

"  Truly  God  has  been  very  good  to  me,  my  wife.  His 
name  be  praised." 

It  was  a  rare  aspiration  from  those  bearded  lips,  not 
innocent  of  the  strange  oaths  and  fierce  objurgation 
well  known  to  the  soldiery  of  that  day,  —  '  our  army  in 
Flanders,'  —  and  over  Barbara's  face  came  a  look  of 
such  joy  and  peace  as  transformed  its  quiet  comeliness 
to  true  beauty.  But  it  was  she  who  with  woman's  tact 
dropped  a  veil  over  that  moment's  exaltation  before  it 
should  degenerate  into  commonplace. 

"  What  is  your  plan,  dear  ?  "  asked  she,  and  her  hus 
band,  with  a  half-conscious  feeling  of  relief,  drew  a  long 
breath,  and  said,  — 

"Oh  —  yes.  Well,  Bab,  I,  as  well  as  you,  would  be 
content  to  live  a  little  farther  from  some  of  our  towns 
folk  ;  it  is  not  here  as  it  was  at  first,  or  even  when  you 
came.  Then  we  were  all  of  one  mind  and  one  interest, 
and  if  I  could  not  belong  to  their  church  as  they  call  it, 
at  least  I  respected  their  beliefs,  and  they  let  mine  alone. 
But  now,  amid  all  this  bickering  with  Lyford  and  Old- 
hame  "  - 

"  But  Oldhame  has  gone,  and  so  has  Lyford,  and  are 
forbidden  to  come  hither  again,"  interposed  Barbara, 
and  her  husband  slowly  and  dubiously  replied,  "I  know, 
Bab,  I  know ;  but  for  all  that  somewhat  of  ill  feeling  in 
the  town  has  grown  out  of  that  affair,  and  though  there  's 
no  man  on  God's  earth  so  near  to  me  as  William  Brad- 


THE  KYLOE  COW.  97 

ford,  and  none  I  reverence  more  than  the  Elder,  or  had 
rather  smoke  a  pipe  with  than  Surgeon  Fuller,  there  are 
others  that  are  to  my  temper  like  a  red  rag  to  a  bull, 
and  it 's  safer  all  round  that  we  should  not  day  by  day 
be  forced  to  rub  shoulders.  So  the  long  and  short  on  't 
is,  Bab,  for  I  'm  not  good  at  speechifying,  it  needs  Wins- 
low  for  that,  I  have  spoken  to  Bradford  about  taking 
possession  of  that  sightly  hill  across  the  bay  "  — 

"  The  one  you  fired  a  cannon  at,  the  other  day  ?  "  in 
terrupted  Barbara  slyly. 

"  Yes  —  that  is,  you  goose,  I  fired  toward  it,  just  to 
see  how  far  the  saker  would  carry." 

"  Nay,  I  think  it  was  a  sort  of  salute  you  were  giving 
to  some  fancy  of  your  own,  Myles,  anent  that  hill." 

"  Well,  then,  since  you  will  have  me  make  myself  out 
no  older  than  Alick,  I  had  been  marking  how  the  head 
land  stood  up  against  the  gold  of  the  western  sky,  and 
it  minded  me  so  of  Birkenclyffe  at  Duxbury,  and  of 
my  boyhood  at  Chorley  and  Wigan,  and  of  fair  days 
gone  by  "  — 

He  paused,  and  Barbara  knew  that  his  thought  was  of 
Rose,  the  sweet  blossom  of  his  youth,  Rose,  whom  he 
had  carried  in  his  pride  to  the  neighborhood  of  the 
stately  domain  that  ought  to  have  been  his  and  hers, 
and  spent  there  with  her  almost  the  only  idle  month  of 
his  life.  She  knew,  and  her  heart  contracted  with  a 
slow,  miserable  pang,  but  she  only  said,  — 

"  Yes,  it  does  look  like  Birkenclyffe.  And  you  think 
you  could  be  happy  in  living  there,  Myles  ?  " 

"  Happy !  "  echoed  the  soldier  moodily.  ;<  I  should  be 
happy  if  the  wars  would  break  out  afresh,  and  Gideon 
and  I  might  hear  once  more  the  music  that  we  love. 
We  rust  here,  we  two." 


98  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  But  the  children,  Myles !  The  boys  so  like  their 
father,  and  Lora  —  would  you  have  them  orphans,  and 
me"  — 

"  Ah,  Lora !  I  did  not  tell  you  when  I  came  home 
from  England,  wife,  for  I  did  not  want  to  hear  any  jibes 
and  gainsaying  "  — 

"  Oh,  Myles,  do  I  jibe  at  you  ?  " 

"  Well,  no,  —  no  Bab,  not  jibes  ;  but  you  know,  lass, 
we  never  were  quite  of  a  mind  about  the  Standish 
dignities  "  — 

"  Dear  heart,  we  have  left  all  that  behind  us  in  the 
Old  World !  Here  we  Standishes  have  dignity  and  ob 
servance  in  full  measure,  because  we  belong  to  thee,  love. 
Captain  Standish,  head  of  the  colony's  strong  men,  is  the 
founder  of  a  new  race  in  this  New  World." 

"  Nay,  nay,  Barbara,  you  talk  but  as  a  woman,  and  you 
never  did  rise  up  to  the  lawful  pride  of  your  birth  "  — 

And  the  captain  all  unconsciously  put  his  wife  off  his 
knee,  and  rising,  strode  up  and  down  the  room,  tugging 
at  his  red  beard,  and  frowning  portentously.  Barbara, 
her  hands  folded  in  her  lap,  and  a  sad  smile  upon  her 
lips,  sat  watching  him. 

"  It  is  as  well  to  tell  you  now  as  to  keep  it  for  years," 
broke  out  the  captain  suddenly.  "  Nothing  will  change 
it,  that  is,  nothing  but  Alexander's  death  "  — 

"  Alexander's  death !     Not  our  boy,  Myles  !  " 

11  No,  no,  no,  child !  Alexander,  son  of  my  cousin 
Ralph  Standish  of  Standish  Hall.  When  I  was  in  Eng 
land  I  went  to  see  him  as  I  told  you." 

"  Yes,  dear." 

"  I  went  to  enforce  upon  him,  newly  come  to  the 
estates,  my  just  and  honest  claim  to  my  grandfathers 
inheritance  which  Ralph's  grandfather  juggled  out  of 


THE  KYLOE  COW.  99 

the  orphan  boy's  hands,  and  which  they  have  kept  ever 
since." 

"I  supposed  that  was  your  errand,  but  as  I  saw- 
naught  had  come  of  it  I  asked  you  no  questions,  Myles." 

"  And  therein  showed  yourself  the  kindly  sensible 
woman  you  ever  were,  wife.  But  there  is  more  to  the 
matter.  Ralph  is  an  honest  fellow,  and  after  some  days 
of  looking  into  the  matter  he  confessed  the  justice  of  my 
claim.  I  tell  you,  Bab,  we  went  through  those  old  parch 
ments  like  two  weasels  from  the  Inns  of  Court ;  Morton 
of  Clifford's  could  have  been  no  subtler  ;  we  had  out  the 
old  deeds  from  the  muniment-room,  and  sent  to  Chorley 
Church  for  the  registry  book,  where  are  set  down  the 
marriage  of  my  father  and  mother  and  my  own  birth 
and  baptism  ;  and  I  showed  him  Queen  Bess's  commis 
sion  to  her  well-beloved  Myles  Standish,  born  on  that 
same  date,  and  at  the  last,  over  a  good  pottle  of  sack, 
he  confessed  to  me  that  I  was  in  the  right,  but  added, 
with  a  smile  too  sly  for  a  Standish  to  wear,  that  I  should 
find  it  well-nigh  impossible  to  prove  the  matter  at  law, 
for,  as  he  was  not  ashamed  to  say  to  my  beard,  neither 
he  nor  his  lawyers  would  help  me,  and  he  knew,  though 
he  had  the  decency  not  to  say  it,  I  have  no  money  to 
tickle  the  palms  of  the  judges,  the  commissioners,  the 
court  officials,  and  the  Lord  Harry  alone  knows  who 
they  are,  but  all  too  many  for  me." 

"  Then  your  cousin  is  a  knave  and  a  robber  !  " 

"  Nay,  nay,  Bab  !  Nay,  I  know  not  that  one  could 
expect  a  man  to  strip  himself  of  half  his  estate  if  the 
law  bade  him  keep  it  "  — 

"  You  would,  Myles." 

"  Ah,  well,  I  was  ever  a  thriftless  loon,  with  no  trad 
er's  blood  in  my  veins  to  show  me  how  to  keep  or  to  get 


100  BETTY  ALDEN. 

money.  Ralph's  grandmother  was  fathered  by  a  man 
who  made  his  money  in  commerce." 

And  the  captain  smiled  as  one  well  content  with  his 
own  chivalrous  incapacity,  then  hastily  went  on.  "  But 
though  Ralph  would  not  give  me  mine  own,  nor  even  let 
me  take  it  if  I  tried,  he  had  an  offer  to  make  on  his 
part.  His  oldest  son,  Alexander  by  name,  was  then 
an  infant  of  two  years,  a  sturdy  little  knave  already 
scorning  his  petticoats,  and  Ralph  proposed  that  we 
should  solemnly  betroth  him  then  and  there  to  our 
Lora  "  — 

"  But  Lora  was  not  born  when  you  were  in  England 
five  years  ago,  Myles." 

"  No ;  but  I  knew  that  our  two  little  lads  must  in 
course  of  time  have  a  sister,  and  counted  on  her.  Truth 
to  tell,  Barbara,  Ralph  and  I  picked  a  name  for  her  off 
the  family  tree.  Lora." 

"If  I  had  known  it,  the  child  never  should  have 
borne  the  name,  and  if  I  could  I  would  change  it  now  !  " 

And  Barbara,  seriously  angry,  rose  from  her  chair 
and  would  have  left  the  room,  but  her  husband  detained 
her. 

"  There,  look  you,  now !  I  knew  you  would  take  it 
amiss,  and  told  Ralph  so,  and  he  bade  me  keep  it  to  my 
self,  at  all  odds  till  the  girl  was  born  and  named,  and 
so  I  have.  And  yet  I  do  not  see  what  angers  you  so, 
Barbara,  except  that  you  ever  favored  your  mother's 
family,  and  held  your  Standish  blood  too  cheap." 

"  That  quarrel  well-nigh  parted  us  ere  ever  we  came 
together,  Myles.  Haply  it  had  been  better  if  we  had 
been  content  to  rest  simply  cousins  and  never  married." 

"  Commend  me  to  a  good  woman  for  thrusts  both 
deep  and  sure  when  once  she  is  angered,"  cried  Myles, 


THE  KYLOE  COW'.  101 

flinging  out  of  the  house  and  up  the  hill  to  his  den  in 
the  Fort,    f 

But  when  Alick  and  Betty  Alden  raced  each  other 
thither  to  tell  him  that  supper  was  ready,  the  choleric 
captain  had  fully  recovered  his  temper,  and  found  his 
wife  so  placid  and  quietly  cheerful  that  he  supposed  she 
also  had  both  forgiven  and  forgotten. 

Which  shows  that  the  great  Captain  of  Plymouth  un 
derstood  the  strategy  of  battle  better  than  that  of  a 
woman's  heart.  Nor  did  he  ever  note,  that  from  that 
day  Barbara  never  spoke  her  daughter's  name  if  it  could 
possibly  be  avoided,  calling  her  generally  "  my  little 
maid,"  and  as  the  child  grew,  addressing  her  as  May, 
the  sweet  old  English  contraction  of  maiden. 

A  few  weeks  later,  as  Barbara  set  the  stirabout  that 
sometimes  served  instead  of  furmety  upon  the  table, 
her  husband  entered,  and  throwing  his  hat  into  Lora's 
lap  said  in  a  tone  of  well  deserving,  — 

"  There,  Bab,  I  've  bought  out  Winslow's  share  in  the 
red  cow  for  five  pounds  and  ten  shillings,  to  be  paid  in 
corn,  and  I  've  satisfied  Pierce  and  Clark  for  their  shares 
with  a  ewe  lamb  apiece,  so  now  it  is  mine,  and  I  give  it 
to  you.  She  's  not  the  kyloe  cow  you  were  longing  for, 
but  she  's  your  own." 

"  Thank  you,  Myles,"  replied  Barbara,  flushing  with 
pleasure.  "  And  is  it  quite  settled  that  we  are  to  go 
over  to  the  Captain's  Hill  as  they  begin  to  call  it  ?  " 

u  Duxbury,  I  mean  to  call  it  in  due  time.  Yes,  dame, 
the  men  and  I  are  going  over  to-morrow  morning  to  fell 
timber,  and  you  shall  have  some  sort  of  shelter  of  your 
own  over  there  before  you  're  a  month  older." 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  UNEXPECTED. 

IT  was  just  as  true  in  1625  as  it  will  be  in  1895  that 
nothing  is  certain  to  occur  except  the  unexpected ;  but 
the  idea  had  not  yet  been  phrased,  and  even  if  it  had 
been,  William  Bradford's  turn  of  mind  was  absolutely 
opposed  to  the  epigrammatic,  so  it  was  in  sober  common 
place  that  he  remarked,  — 

"  I  never  thought  to  have  spoken  with  you  again  in 
Plymouth,  Master  Oldhame,  but  sith  you  urge  pressing 
business  as  your  excuse  for  coming  hither,  I  am  ready 
to  hear  it." 

The  governor  sat  in  his  chair  of  office,  and  the  Assist 
ants  were  ranged  each  man  in  his  place.  At  the  end 
of  the  platform  stood  John  Oldhame,  and  behind  him 
Bartholomew  Allerton  and  Gyles  Hopkins,  each  carry 
ing  a  pike,  and  looking  very  important. 

But  except  for  these  nine  men  the  great  chamber 
where  we  assisted  at  the  Court  of  the  People  was  empty, 
and  the  sad  afternoon  light  fell  across  the  vacant 
benches,  and  glimmered  upon  the  low-browed  wall  up 
held  by  sturdy  knees  of  oak,  with  a  sort  of  mournful 
curiosity  quite  pathetic ;  this  curiosity  was,  however,  re 
flected  in  the  minds  of  the  townsfolk  of  Plymouth  in  a 
degree  far  more  ludicrous  than  pathetic,  man  often  fall 
ing  short  of  the  dignity  of  nature, 


THE  UNEXPECTED.  103 

All  that  they  knew,  these  good  people,  was  that  about 
noon  a  Nantasket  boat  had  rounded  Beach  Point,  an 
chored  in  the  channel,  and  sent  a  skiff  ashore  under 
command  of  William  Gray,  the  elder  of  two  brothers, 
representing  the  solid  men  of  Nantasket  at  that  day. 
Stepping  on  the  Rock,  Master  Gray  demanded  to  be  led 
to  the  governor,  a  demand  complied  with  the  more  read 
ily  that  as  he  declined  to  communicate  his  business  to 
any  one  else.  Dinner-time  came  and  went,  and  as  the 
town  returned  to  its  posts  of  observation  it  noted 
William  Gray  rowing  back  to  the  vessel,  receiving  a 
passenger  into  his  skiff,  and  bringing  ashore  the  very 
John  Oldhame  whom  Plymouth  had  so  ignominiously 
dismissed  some  two  years  before.  The  same,  and  yet 
a  very  different  John  Oldhame  from  the  drunken  ruffler 
of  that  day,  or  the  blustering  bully  who  a  year  before 
that  had  been  solemnly  exiled  from  Plymouth ;  yes,  a 
strangely  meek  and  quiet  John  Oldhame  this,  who,  look 
ing  neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left,  strode  up  the  hill  to 
the  Fort,  apparently  not  noticing,  certainly  not  resent 
ing,  the  attendance  of  the  two  men-at-arms  who  escorted 
or  guarded  him,  as  one  might  elect  to  call  it. 

So  much  had  Plymouth  seen,  and  Helena  Billington, 
arms  akimbo,  and  head  inclined  to  one  side,  was  begin 
ning  to  vituperate  the  tyrants  who  had  beguiled  an  un 
fortunate  gentleman  into  their  clutches,  and  now  would 
clap  him  up  in  jail,  when  those  very  tyrants  severally 
appeared  coming  out  of  their  houses  and  leisurely  climb 
ing  the  hill. 

"  The  governor,  and  the  Elder,  and  the  captain,  and 
the  doctor,  and  Master  Winslow,  and  Master  Allerton," 
counted  she  breathlessly,  and  not  without  a  certain  awe 
at  sight  of  all  the  authority  of  the  colony  paraded  be- 


104  BETTY  ALDEN. 

fore  her  eyes ;  and  as  the  last  doublet  disappeared 
within  the  gate,  she  sagely  shook  her  head,  with  the 
conclusion,  "  Well,  gossip,  it  passeth  my  comprehension 
or  thine,  and  I  '11  e'en  hie  me  under  cover  when  it  rains, 
for  only  a  fool  will  stay  out  to  get  drenched." 

From  which  somewhat  blind  apothegm  we  may  per 
haps  evolve  the  theory  that  Goodwife  Billington  was  not 
one  of  those  whom  our  modern  slang  declares  "  don't 
know  enough  to  go  in  when  it  rains !  " 

"  Seat  yourself  an  you  will,  Master  Oldhame,  and 
speak  your  errand,"  repeated  the  governor  a  little  more 
indulgently,  for  in  fact  Oldhame's  weather-and-time- 
worn  face  and  somewhat  bowed  shoulders  suggested 
ill  health  or  great  suffering,  a  look  supplemented  by  his 
voice,  as  dropping  upon  the  bench  which  young  Aller- 
ton  pushed  forward  he  slowly  said,  — 

"  My  thanks,  Governor  Bradford.  I  have  come  here 
to-day  upon  an  errand  so  strange  that  I  can  scarce  credit 
it  myself,  and  I  know  not  that  in  my  half  century  of 
years  I  have  ever  charged  myself  with  the  like. 

"  Man,  it  is  to  crave  pardon  for  my  ill  offices  to  you, 
and  these  your  associates,  and  to  all  the  town  of  Ply 
mouth,  where  I  repaid  kind  entertainment  and  many 
good  turns  with  as  much  of  evil  and  malevolence.  Can 
you,  as  Christian  men,  forgive  me?  " 

"As  Christians,"  began  Bradford,  after  a  pause  of 
unfeigned  astonishment,  "  we  are  bound  to  forgive  in 
juries  greater  than  those  you  have  offered  us,  which  in 
deed  did  not  harm  us  as  you  intended.  But  as  prudent 
men,  we  would  fain  know  before  receiving  you  again  to 
our  confidence  what  are  the  grounds  of  your  repen 
tance." 

"  Right  enough,  Master  Bradford,  right  enough  !     It 


THE  UNEXPECTED.  105 

behooves  every  man  to  be  prudent,  and  the  burned  dog 
dreads  the  fire.  But  the  matter  is  here.  A  year  or 
more  agone  I  and  other  men  loaded  a  small  ship  with 
goods,  bought  mainly  on  credit  from  the  French  and 
English  vessels  at  Monhegan  and  Damaris  Cove,  to 
truck  them  at  the  Virginia  colony  for  tobacco  and  other 
matters  which  sell  well  to  the  sailors  and  fishermen  ; 
but  outside  the  Cape  here,  we  fell  upon  Malabar  and 
Tucker's  Terror,  and  all  those  fearsome  shoals  and  reefs 
that  drove  back  your  own  Mayflower  from  the  same 
voyage,  and  to  cap  our  misfortunes  a  shrewd  storm  out 
of  the  northeast  seized  us  at  advantage,  and  shook  and 
worried  us  as  you  may  see  a  dog  torment  a  wolf  caught 
in  a  trap,  and  sans  power  to  defend  himself. 

"  Now  in  that  extremity  some  of  the  mariners  be 
thought  them  of  God,  who  verily  was  not  in  all  their 
thoughts,  and  so  fell  on  prayer,  making  loud  lamenta 
tions  of  their  sins  and  professing  desire  of  amendment 
and  satisfaction.  So  as  I  listened,  and  marveled  if 
those  men  were  verily  worse  than  other  men,  or  than 
me,  of  a  sudden  a  flash  as  of  lightning  pierced  my  soul 
and  showed  me  mine  own  enormous  wickedness,  and 
how  it  well  might  be  that  I  was  the  Jonah  for  whom  an 
angry  God  would  slay  all  this  company.  Natheless  I 
did  not  cry  out  as  Jonah  did,  for  I  knew  not  if  there 
was  a  great  fish  prepared  to  swallow  me  when  my  ship 
mates  should  fling  me  over,  nor  did  I  feel  within  myself 
the  prophet's  constancy  and  courage  to  abide  three  days 
alive  in  a  fish's  belly  ;  so  I  held  mine  own  counsel,  and 
getting  behind  the  mast  I  fell  upon  my  knees  and  heart 
ily  abased  myself  before  God,  confessing  my  sins,  and 
most  especially  my  ill-doing  toward  you  men  of  Ply 
mouth,  and  as  the  heat  of  my  devotion  bore  me  on,  I 


106  BETTY  ALDEN. 

vowed  that  so  God  would  spare  me  alive,  and  not  make 
shipwreck  of  all  this  company  for  my  sin,  I  would  hum 
ble  myself  before  those  I  had  wronged,  and  would,  if  I 
might,  do  them  as  much  good  as  I  had  done  harm. 
Then,  sirs,  believe  it  or  not  as  you  will,  but  as  I  finished 
that  prayer  and  made  that  vow,  the  wind  fell,  as  though 
some  mighty  hand  had  gathered  it  back,  and  held  it 
powerless  ;  the  ship  that  had  lain  all  but  upon  her  beam- 
ends,  and  in  another  moment  must  have  capsized,  righted 
herself,  and  stood  amazed  and  quivering,  like  a  horse 
curbed  in  upon  the  very  brink  of  a  precipice ;  the  sea 
still  ran  high,  but  the  tide  so  bore  us  up,  and  carried  us 
so  kindly,  that  two  men  at  the  helm  could  manage  it 
again,  and  the  master,  recovering  his  spirit  that  had 
been  well-nigh  dashed  with  the  imminent  peril  of  his 
occasions,  so  ingeniously  maiKjeuvred  his  course  in  and 
out  among  those  sholds  as  to  fetch  us  through  into  the 
open  sea,  although  so  crippled  and  battered  that  we 
could  no  more  than  make  back  to  Gloucester  for  repairs. 

"  There  I  found  another  vessel  bound  south,  and  took 
passage  with  my  venture,  secure  that  now  my  voyage 
should  be  prospered  as  indeed  it  was,  and  I  stayed  in 
Virginia  something  over  a  year,  trading  and  laying  by 
money. 

"  And  now,  masters,  here  I  am  in  fulfilling  of  my  vow. 
I  have,  and  I  do  crave  pardon  and  forgetfulness  of  rny 
former  wrong-doing,  and  to  prove  that  my  repentance 
is  fruitful,  I  here  bring  you  in  solid  cash  for  the  use  of 
the  colony  five-and-twenty  rose-nobles,  good  money,  hon 
estly  gained." 

And  with  a  smile  of  self-approval  not  unmixed  with 
surprise  at  his  own  position,  Oldhame  brought  a  grimy 
canvas  bag  from  the  depths  of  one  of  the  pockets  of 


THE  UNEXPECTED.  107 

his  pea-coat,  and  planted  it  with  a  pleasant  thud  and  jin 
gle  upon  the  table  in  front  of  the  governor,  who  raised 
his  hand  as  if  to  push  it  back,  but  restrained  the  gesture, 
and  after  a  moment's  hesitation  rose,  and  taking  the 
penitent  by  the  hand  said  in  his  grandly  simple  way,  — 
"  No  man  can  do  more  than  to  confess  himself  sorry 
for  wrong-doing,  and  to  offer  satisfaction  for  sin.  Zac- 
cheus  did  no  more,  and  the  Son  of  God  became  his 
guest.  Master  Oldhame,  we  receive  you  again  as  our 
friend  and  comrade,  and  make  you  welcome  to  our  town 
whensoever  you  may  see  fit  to  visit  us.  As  for  this 
money,  if  you  will  retire  for  a  little,  I  will  take  counsel 
with  my  advisers  here,  and  tell  you  our  mind.  Will  you 
walk  about  the  town,  or  will  you  await  our  summons  out 
side  ?  Bartholomew,  Master  Oldhame  is  no  longer  a 
prisoner  but  a  guest ;  go  with  him  where  he  will,  and 
Gyles,  wait  you  without  to  summon  him,  when  we  are 
ready." 

But  Oldhame  went  no  farther  than  a  sunny  angle  of 
the  Fort,  where,  seated  upon  the  section  of  a  tree-trunk 
set  there  by  Captain  Standish,  he  lighted  his  pipe,  folded 
his  arms,  and  fixing  his  eyes  upon  Captain's  Hill  sat 
smoking  in  stolid  silence,  rather  to  the  disappointment 
of  Bart  Allerton,  who  was  a  sociable  young  man,  and 
would  have  liked  the  news  from  Virginia. 

The  penitent's  mood  had  changed,  however,  and  he 
was  suffering  from  the  reaction  consequent  upon  most 
unwonted  acts  of  self-sacrifice.  He  really  was  sincere  in 
his  contrition,  and  had  honestly  offered  that  bag  of  gold 
as  satisfaction  for  the  injury  done  and  intended  toward 
Plymouth.  But  five-and-twenty  rose-nobles,  represent 
ing  more  than  forty  dollars  of  our  money,  meant  in  that 
day  and  place  four  or  five  times  as  much,  and  was  a 


108  BETTY  ALDEN. 

sum  neither  lightly  won,  nor  lightly  to  be  spent ;  so  that 
Oldhame  half  unconsciously  fell  to  meditating  how  far 
it  would  have  gone  toward  purchasing  English  goods  for 
another  voyage  to  Virginia,  or  for  his  own  maintenance 
while  resting  from  his  labors.  He  had  told  his  story, 
and  made  his  peace-offering  in  a  moment  of  exaltation, 
and  now  the  exaltation  was  all  gone,  and  a  certain  flat 
and  disgusted  mood  had  seized  upon  its  vacant  place. 
Human  nature  is  not  essentially  different  in  the  nine 
teenth  nor  will  be  in  the  twentieth  century  from  what  it 
was  in  the  seventeenth. 

"The  governor  prays  your  company,  Master  Old 
hame,"  announced  Gyles  Hopkins  ;  and  knocking  the 
ashes  out  of  his  pipe,  Oldhame  pocketed  it  and  followed 
into  that  dusky  chamber,  where  still  the  Court  of  the 
People  seemed  to  fill  the  benches  with  ghostly  presence 
waiting  to  hear  and  confirm  their  governor's  decision. 

"  We  pray  you  be  seated,  Master  Oldhame,"  began 
Bradford,  motioning  to  a  chair  beside  the  table.  "  Bar 
tholomew  and  Gyles  you  are  dismissed,  and  see  that  we 
are  not  interrupted." 

He  paused  while  the  men-at-arms  withdrew,  closing 
the  door  with  a  heavy  bang,  which  echoed  gloomily 
through  the  empty  room. 

Then  Bradford,  referring  now  and  again  to  his 
associates,  told  the  grisly  penitent  that  the  opportunity 
he  craved  of  doing  a  good  turn  to  Plymouth  was  at  hand, 
and  the  money  he  proffered  would  aid  in  carrying  out 
the  enterprise.  This  was  no  other  than  the  transporta 
tion  of  Thomas  Morton  to  England,  and  there  delivering 
him  to  the  authorities  who  waited  to  punish  him  for 
offenses  committed  before  seeking  the  shelter  of  the 
New  World.  After  his  capture  by  Standish,  Morton 


THE  UNEXPECTED.  109 

had  been  brought  to  Plymouth,  but  as  he  was  too  trou 
blesome  a  prisoner  to  be  held  there,  some  brilliant  mind 
had  hit  upon  the  idea  of  marooning  him  upon  one  of  the 
Isles  of  Shoals,  where,  having  no  boat,  he  was  perfectly 
sure  to  be  found  when  wanted,  and  at  the  same  time 
quite  out  of  danger.  The  season  for  the  return  home  of 
the  English  fishing-vessels  had  now  arrived,  and  Plymouth 
was  already  in  treaty  with  the  master  of  the  Dolphin  to 
carry  their  rebellious  prisoner  as  passenger  ;  but  it  was 
most  desirable  that  some  competent  person  should  ac 
company  him,  and  perhaps  none  could  be  found  more 
suitable  than  Oldhame,  to  whom  the  position  was  now 
offered.  If  he  chose  to  accept  it,  the  five-and-twenty 
rose-nobles,  "  said  to  be  contained  in  this  bag  which  we 
have  not  opened,"  and  at  the  words  Bradford  laid  a 
hand  upon  the  bag  and  threw  a  penetrating  glance  at 
Oldhame,  whose  face  flushed  guiltily,  for  one  of  those 
nobles  had  indeed  been  so  grievously  clipped  as  to  lose 
a  good  third  of  its  value,  and  he  knew  it,  although  the 
governor  only  guessed  it,  "  this  money,  be  it  less  or 
more,  shall  be  used  by  you,  Master  Oldhame,  to  pay 
Plymouth's  proportion  of  the  expense  of  this  transpor 
tation,  and  the  remainder  shall  be  our  recognition  of 
your  services  and  loss  of  time.  Do  you  accept  the  offer, 
friend?" 

"  Gladly  and  gayly,  Governor,  and  gentlemen  all," 
cried  Oldhame,  laying  an  impulsive  clutch  upon  the  bag. 
"  And  truth  to  tell,  I  was  purposing  a  voyage  into  Eng 
land  when  occasion  should  serve,  so  that  your  proposal 
jumps  with  my  desires  most  marvelously,  and  you  shall 
find  that  once  there  I  will  do  you  good  and  manful  ser 
vice  in  whatsoever  you  desire.  I  am  not  unknown  to 
Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  the  Governor  of  Old  Plymouth, 


110  BETTY  ALDEN. 

whither  the  Dolphin  is  bound,  and  I  will  so  present  this 
Morton's  offenses  that  we  shall  have  him  hanged  over 
the  battlements,  a  prey  for  gleeds,  before  he  has  well 
tasted  English  air." 

"  Better  to  shoot  him  before  he  goes,"  growled  Stan- 
dish.  "  'T  is  bad  venerie  when  you  have  trapped  a  wolf 
to  let  him  go  free  on  the  chance  some  other  man  will 
finish  your  work." 

u  Morton  hath  committed  no  offense  worthy  of  death 
on  this  side  the  water,"  suggested  Allerton  in  his  crafty 
voice.  "  If  he  hath  in  England,  let  English  law  decide." 

Standish  cast  a  look  of  impatient  dislike  at  the 
speaker,  but  Doctor  Fuller  interposed,  — 

"  Fair  and  softly  is  a  good  rule  whereby  to  walk, 
and  I  know  not  if  the  right  of  life  and  death  except 
in  combat  is  fairly  ours.  I  fear  me  one  hundred  men 
though  led  by  Standish  would  hardly  cope  with  Old 
England's  forces  if  she  sent  them  hither." 

"  My  brethren,"  said  Bradford,  lightly  tapping  the 
table  with  his  finger  -  tips,  "  why  waste  time  thus  ? 
There  is  no  question  of  life  or  death  in  the  present  mat 
ter  ;  we  are  to  send  this  dangerous  rebel  home  to  Eng 
land  for  trial,  and  John  Oldhame  is  to  be  surety  for  his 
safe  arrival,  and  to  receive  this  money  to  defray  Ply 
mouth's  proportion  of  the  expense.  Am  I  right,  sirs  ?  " 

"  You  are  right,  Governor  Bradford,"  said  the  Elder 
solemnly,  and  the  conclave  broke  up. 


CHAPTER  XL 

GOVERNOR    BRADFORD    PAYS   A   VISIT. 

"  Now  mind  you,  goodman,  you  are  to  put  on  your 
ruff,  and  the  goodly  wrist-ruffles,  and  see  that  your  doub 
let  is  fresh  brushed,  and  your  hosen  tight  and  smooth, 
and  your  hair  well  set  up,  and  your  beard  newly  combed, 
—  I  wish  I  might  but  put  a  thought  of  ambergris  and 
civet  upon  it  "  — 

"  Nay,  dame,  not  while  I  live,  and  I  think  when  once 
you  have  killed  me  with  kindness  you  '11  have  no  heart 
to  send  me  to  the  grave  smelling  like  a  civet  cat "  — 

"  Oh,  Will,  Will !     How  can  you  !  "  — 

"  How  can  I  die,  or  how  can  I  forbear  civet  upon  my 
beard  ?  Nay,  then,  my  dame  !  Wilt  cry  over  it  — 
there,  then,  sweetheart,  there,  there  !  "  — 

"  'T  was  that  you  talked  of  dying,  Will,  and  if  thou 
wert  dead  "  — 

"  Men  who  talk  of  dying  never  die,  Elsie ;  but  take 
courage,  take  courage,  and  for  thy  sweet  sake  I  '11  don 
the  ruffles,  and  brush  my  doublet,  and  re-garter  my 
hosen,  and  set  up  my  hair  ;  nay,  then,  I  '11  even  clean 
my  shoes  and  anoint  them  afresh,  which  is  more  than 
you  bade  me  do." 

"  Why  certainly,  of  course  you  must  do  that,  dear ; 
and,  laugh  at  your  poor  wife  as  you  will,  I  'm  sure 
enough  you  '11  pleasure  her  by  going  brave,  and  showing 
a  good  front  to  these  fine  new-comers  ;  and  if  you  come 


112  BETTY  ALDEN. 

to  see  Lady  Arbella  Johnson  be  sure  to  mark  all  the 
items  of  her  clothes,  for  she  will  have  the  latest  modes 
out  of  England." 

"  Oh,  wife,  wife  !  Oh,  woman,  woman  !  'T  was  hut 
yesterday  we  were  driven  to  make  coats  of  deer-skins, 
and  shoe  ourselves  with  the  hides  of  wolves  and  bears, 
because  we  had  no  other  clothing,  and  to-day  you  are 
all  agog  for  the  latest  modes  out  of  England,  and  send 
me  to  take  inventory  of  a  titled  lady's  raiment  that 
you  may  copy  her  silks  in  kersey,  and  her  velvets  in 
homespun." 

"  Nay,  then,  sir,  I  'm  none  so  poor  as  you  would  make 
me  out,  but  have  more  than  one  robe  of  say  of  mine 
own,  only  they  have  never  been  aired  in  this  rude  wil 
derness,  and  are  a  thought  antiquated.  But  now  that  we 
hear  of  Governor  Endicott  of  Salem,  and  Governor 
Winthrop  of  the  Bay,  I  mind  me  that  I  am  wife  of 
Governor  Bradford  of  Plymouth,  and  it  is  my  duty,  my 
bounden  duty,  Will,  to  magnify  thine  office,  and  show 
myself  abroad  as  a  governor's  lady  should." 

"  Ay,  dame ;  but  methinks  the  wife  of  a  governor 
should  show  herself  more  governed  than  other  women ; 
more  meek,  and  recollected,  and  chastened,  rather  than 
more  arrogant." 

"  Nay,  Will,  do  I  lack  in  these  matters  ?  "  And  Alice 
looked  up  in  her  husband's  face,  her  blue  eyes  so  swim 
ming  in  tears  that  she  could  not  see  the  smile  of  ten 
der  malice  upon  her  husband's  lips  as  he  folded  her  in 
his  arms  and  whispered  tender  reassurances  needless  to 
set  down. 

Yes,  our  governor  was  going  a-neighboring  to  his 
brother  potentates  at  Boston,  for  a  great  change  had 
almost  suddenly  befallen  that  pleasant  region  where 


GOVERNOR  BRADFORD  PAYS  A  VISIT.    113 

William  Blackstone  had  dwelt  as  a  solitary  for  so  long. 
Let  us,  as  briefly  as  may  be,  freshen  our  memories  of 
these  early  arrivals,  and  so  understand  more  clearly  the 
new  relations  suddenly  involving  the  Pilgrims  of  Ply 
mouth. 

It  was  in  1628  that  Governor  Endicott  with  a  large  and 
aristocratic  following  arrived  at  Naumkeag,  and  speedily 
dispossessed  Roger  Conant  and  the  other  old  settlers 
both  of  their  proprietary  rights  and  their  privilege  of 
trading  with  the  natives.  The  next  step  was  to  name 
the  place  Salem,  and  ordain  as  Independent  ministers  the 
men  who  had  left  England  proclaiming  their  fealty  to 
her  Established  Church. 

But  Salem  did  not  long  claim  the  seat  of  government, 
for  on  the  17th  of  June,  1630,  Governor  Winthrop,  with 
near  a  thousand  colonists  under  his  command,  sailed 
into  Boston  Bay  and  landed  at  Charlestown,  where  a 
deputation  from  Salem  had  already  prepared  for  them. 
Neither  numbers,  nor  home  protection,  nor  wealth,  nor 
aristocratic  pretensions  could,  however,  save  this  great 
colony  from  the  very  same  enemies  that  had  assailed  the 
glorious  hundred  of  Mayflower  Pilgrims  ten  years  be 
fore,  and  cut  down  one  half  of  their  number.  Ship  fever, 
scurvy,  and  other  diseases  incident  to  the  horrors  of  a 
sea-voyage  in  that  day  seized  upon  the  new-comers,  who 
aggravated  their  own  danger  by  improper  food,  treat 
ment,  and,  so  long  as  they  lasted,  terrible  drugs.  In  six 
months  Charlestown  had  become  a  village  of  graves  and 
of  loathsome  insanitation,  complicated  with  the  want 
of  pure  and  sufficient  water.  Moved  at  length  by  the 
sufferings  of  his  neighbors,  Blackstone,  who  at  first  had 
scowled  upon  their  invasion  of  his  solitude,  visited  Gov 
ernor  Winthrop,  and  told  him  of  a  pure  and  unfailing 


114  BETTY  ALDEN. 

spring  of  water  near  the  southern  foot  of  the  hill  upon 
whose  western  slope  lay  his  own  cahin  and  apple  orchard, 
and  suggested  that  it  might  be  well  for  the  settlement  to 
be  removed  across  the  mouth  of  the  Mystic,  and  reestab 
lished  at  Trimountain,  as  he  called  the  peninsula  hitherto 
his  own. 

Winthrop  gladly  accepted  the  suggestion,  came  over 
with  Blackstone  to  view  the  proposed  site,  and  liked  it 
so  well  that  in  October,  1630,  he  caused  the  frame  of 
his  own  house  nearly  ready  for  erection  in  Charlestown 
to  be  taken  over,  and  set  up  close  by  the  spring  in  ques 
tion,  or,  as  we  might  now  describe  it,  on  Washington 
Street,  between  the  Old  South  Church  and  the  corner 
of  Spring  Lane,  under  whose  worn  and  dusty  pave 
ment  one  still  fancies  to  hear  the  cool  wash  and  gurgle 
of  those  imprisoned  waters. 

Was  Blackstone  sorry  for  his  good-nature  when, 
after  a  little,  Winthrop  and  his  council  kindly  set  apart 
fifty  acres  of  the  domain  to  which  he  had  invited  them, 
as  his  property,  and  proceeded  to  divide  the  rest  among 
themselves  ?  Cannot  one  picture  the  reserved  and  some 
what  cynical  hermit  smoking  his  pipe  beside  his  soli 
tary  fire  in  the  evening  of  that  day,  and  smiling  to 
himself  as  he  considered  the  condescension  of  the  new 
government  ?  And  did  haply  some  herald  of  coming 
Liberty  suggest  certain  pithy  queries  to  be  more  plainly 
worded  on  Boston  Common  a  century  or  so  later  ?  Did 
the  lonely  man  ask  himself  what  right  Governor  Win 
throp  or  any  other  man  had  to  come  into  this  wild 
country  and  dispossess  the  pioneer  settlers  of  their 
holdings  ?  True,  the  King  of  England  had  given  him 
that  right.  But  where  did  the  King  of  England  himself 
get  the  authority  to  do  so  ?  He  had  neither  bought  the 


GOVEENOE  BRADFORD  PAYS  A   VISIT.    115 

land  of  the  natives,  nor  had  he  conquered  them  in  fair 
fight ;  he  simply  had  heard  of  a  fair  new  world  beyond 
the  seas,  and  claimed  it  for  his  own  by  some  arbitrary 
ri^ht  divine  whose  source  no  man  could  tell.  The  land 

O 

was  his,  he  said,  and  so  he  had  sent  these  men  in  his  name 
to  take  possession,  to  parcel  out,  to  give,  or  to  withhold, 
from  men  as  good  as  themselves  who  had  borne  the  heat 
and  toil  of  the  earlier  days,  and  who  had  paid  the  sav 
ages  full  measure  for  the  lands  they  held.  What  was  this 
right  divine  ?  Why  should  kings  so  control  the  property 
of  other  men  —  men  who  only  asked  to  live  their  own 
lives,  and  neither  meddle  nor  make  with  kingcraft? 
Why  ?  And  as  William  Blackstone,  the  forgotten  pipe 
burned  out,  pondered  this  "  why,"  the  yellowing  leaves 
of  the  young  Liberty  tree  a  few  rods  from  his  cottage 
door  rustled  impatiently,  as  though  they  felt  the  breath 
of  1775  already  in  their  midst. 

It  did  not  last  very  long.  Not  only  were  there  dis 
putes  and  heartburnings  about  proprietorship,  but  the 
Puritans  who  had  come  to  New  England  professing  a 
stanch  adherence  to  the  church,  and  almost  immediately 
proved  false  to  her,  could  not  forgive  the  quiet  man  who 
made  no  parade  of  religion,  but  never  swerved  from  his 
adherence  to  his  ordination  vows.  They  tried  to  per 
suade  him,  they  tried  to  coerce  him,  and  at  last  received 
the  assurance  that  he  who  had  exiled  himself  from  Eng 
land  to  avoid  the  tyranny  of  the  Lords  Bishops  was  not 
disposed  to  submit  to  that  of  the  lords  brethren,  but 
would  leave  them  to  dispute  with  each  other. 

So  selling  all  that  he  had,  except  a  plot  of  land 
around  his  old  home,  Blackstone  invested  the  thirty 
pounds  of  purchase  money  in  cattle,  packed  his  books 
and  some  other  matters  upon  his  cows'  backs,  and  driv- 


116  BETTY  ALDEN. 

ing  the  herd  before  him  passed  over  Boston  Neck  and 
out  into  the  wilderness  ;  nor  did  he  pause  until  upon  a 
tributary  of  Narragansett  Bay  he  found  a  lonely  and 
lovely  spot,  so  far  from  white  men  or  their  ordinary 
line  of  travel  as  to  rival  the  Isle  of  Juan  Fernandez  in 
solitude.  Naming  his  domain  Study  Hill,  Blackstone 
built  another  house,  planted  some  young  apple  trees 
carefully  brought  from  the  old  orchard,  set  up  his  book 
shelves,  filled  his  pipe,  and  settled  himself  for  forty 
years  of  happiness,  dying  just  in  time  to  escape  King 
Philip's  war. 

But  in  September,  1630,  when  Governor  Bradford 
went  up  to  pay  his  first  visit  to  Governor  Winthrop, 
Blackstone  still  lived  on  Boston  Common,  and  looked 
upon  the  new-comers  as  his  guests.  They  had  not  yet 
presented  him  with  the  fifty  acres  of  his  own  land. 

With  the  Governor  of  Plymouth  came  Elder  Brew- 
ster,  and  Captain  Standish,  Thomas  Prence,  and  Doctor 
Fuller,  who  was  already  well  and  gratefully  known  by 
many  of  the  new  settlers  ;  for  when  the  pestilence  broke 
out  in  Salem  about  a  year  before,  Governor  Endicott 
dispatched  Roger  Conant  to  beg,  in  the  name  of  Chris 
tian  fellowship,  that  the  doctor  of  Plymouth,  who  had 
already  met  the  grim  enemy  at  home,  would  come  and 
aid  his  brethren.  Fuller  was  not  slow  to  respond,  and 
not  only  cured  some  of  the  sufferers  in  spite  of  the 
deadly  methods  of  his  day,  but  so  set  forth  the  religious 
beliefs  and  practices  of  the  church  of  the  Pilgrims  that 
Endicott,  who  was  still  a  Puritan  Churchman,  and  soon 
to  be  a  Puritan  Independent,  wrote  a  cordial  letter  to 
Bradford,  telling  how  glad  he  was  to  find  that  the  Sep 
aratists  were  not  so  bad  as  he  had  supposed  them  to  be. 

Again,  when  in  the  summer  of  1630  the  settlers  at 


GOVERN OR  BRADFORD  PAYS  A   VISIT.    117 

Charlestown,  Boston,  Dorchester,  and  the  neighboring 
country  fell  into  the  same  disaster,  and  with  the  earliest 
victims  lost  £)octor  Gager  their  only  physician,  Ply 
mouth  was  appealed  to  for  assistance,  and  Doctor  Fuller 
at  once  responded.  But  the  scanty  stock  of  drugs 
brought  by  the  emigrants  was  already  exhausted,  and 
Fuller's  own  supply  soon  went,  so  that  his  treatment  was 
principally  confined  to  blood-letting,  and  after  writing 
a  homesick  letter  to  his  brother-in-law  Bradford,  he  re 
turned  to  Plymouth. 

At  the  wooden  wharf  where  the  Pilgrims  disem 
barked  in  Charlestown,  they  were  met  by  Governor 
Winthrop,  Dudley  his  Deputy  and  successor,  and  the 
Reverend  Master  Wilson,  who,  as  he  cordially  grasped 
Elder  Brewster  by  the  hand,  cast  a  hurried  glance  over 
the  group  of  visitors,  and  felt  a  sensible  relief  at  not 
perceiving  the  face  of  Ralph  Smith  among  them.  For 
this  reverend  gentleman,  persecuted  out  of  Salem  for 
opinion's  sake,  and  refused  shelter  in  Boston  or  Charles- 
town,  had  found  an  asylum  among  the  liberal  Pilgrims 
who  presently  invited  him  to  the  position  of  their  first 
ordained  minister. 

Mr.  Wilson  need  not,  however,  have  been  alarmed, 
since  Bradford,  whose  character  singularly  united  the 
wisdom  of  the  serpent  with  the  innocence  of  the  dove, 
had  not  thought  best  to  include  a  person  so  likely  to  be 
unwelcome  to  his  hosts  in  this  visit,  at  once  friendly  and 
official ;  for  the  Governor  of  Plymouth  had  been  invited 
to  assist  at  the  first  formal  session  of  the  Bay  authorities, 
convened  at  the  Great  House  built  by  Thomas  Grove, 
the  architect  "  entertained  "  by  the  Massachusetts  Com 
pany  under  whose  auspices  the  new  colony  came  out. 

To  this  inauguration  feast  came  also  Governor  Endi- 


I 

118  BETTY  ALDEN. 

cott  from  Salem,  with  Master  Isaac  Johnson,  whose  wife, 
the  Lady  Arbella,  lay  sick  unto  death  in  her  new  home, 
and  never  more  would  don  the  brave  attire  in  which 
Alice  Bradford  had  expressed  such  womanly  interest. 
With  these  were  assembled  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  Mas 
ter  Bradstreet,  soon  to  be  Governor  of  the  Bay  Colony, 
and  Pynchon,  ancestor,  perhaps,  of  Hawthorne's  Hester ; 
all  the  magistrates  in  fact  of  New  England,  all  the  rep 
resentatives  of  legal  or  spiritual  authority  upon  this  side 
of  the  broad  seas  ;  for  these  men  were  about  to  test 
their  right  to  self-government,  and  to  exercise  jurisdic 
tion  over  the  liberty,  the  property,  the  persons,  nay,  the 
very  lives  of  others,  and  doubtless  felt  that  in  case  this 
right  were  to  be  called  in  question  from  the  throne  or 
the  Star  Chamber,  it  might  be  well  to  secure  the  strength 
of  numbers  and  authoritative  consensus. 

But  we,  like  Bradford  and  his  company,  are  only 
guests  at  Mishawum,  as  they  still  called  Charlestown, 
and  must  hasten  back  to  Plymouth.  Enough  to  briefly 
note  that  Morton  of  Merry  Mount,  who  had  audaciously 
returned  to  his  "  old  nest  "  and  his  old  ways,  after  Aller- 
ton  had  been  forced  to  dismiss  him  from  his  house  in 
Plymouth,  was  brought  before  the  magistrates,  some 
what  unfairly  tried,  and  sentenced  to  be  "  set  in  the  bil 
boes,"  and  afterward  sent  prisoner  to  England.  His 
entire  property  was  to  be  confiscated,  and  his  house 
burned  in  presence  of  the  Indians  whom  he  had  robbed 
and  insulted,  and  so  speedily  was  the  first  portion  of  the 
sentence  carried  out  that,  as  the  court  left  the  Great 
House  at  noon,  they  passed  close  beside  the  criminal  al 
ready  sea-ted  in  the  stocks  with  a  party  of  Indian  squaws 
staring  at  him,  half  in  dismay,  half  in  satisfaction. 

"  This  way,  Bradford  !     Don't  look  upon    him  ;  't  is 


GOVEENOE  BRADFORD  PAYS  A   VISIT.    119 

no  punishment  for  a  gentleman,"  muttered  Standish, 
seizing  the  governor's  arm  and  dragging  him  in  a 
sidelong  direction,  while  Parson  Wilson,  and  Increase 
Newell  the  Elder  of  the  Charlestown  church,  stopped 
to  administer  a  "word  in  season"  to  the  defenseless 
prisoner. 

The  business  of  the  Bay  Colony  finished,  Governor 
Bradford  begged  the  attention  of  his  fellow  magistrates 
to  an  affair  in  his  own  jurisdiction  :  one  as  important  as 
life  and  death  could  make  it,  for  it  was  a  question  of  en 
forcing  the  death  penalty  upon  a  murderer,  fully  con 
victed  and  offering  no  plea  of  extenuating  circumstances. 
The  culprit  was  John  Billington,  already  notorious  as 
the  first  person  the  Pilgrims  had  felt  called  upon  to  pun 
ish.  Since  that  early  day  he  had  more  than  once  come 
under  discipline  of  the  law,  but  now  his  offense  ex 
ceeded  all  human  bounds  of  forgiveness,  and  by  the 
stern  code  of  Old  Testament  justice  merited  nothing 
short  of  death. 

The  victim  was  a  young  man  named  John  Newcomen, 
a  somewhat  rough  and  lawless  companion,  who  had  per 
sisted  in  trapping  and  shooting  over  ground  which  Bil 
lington  claimed  as  his  own  monopoly,  although  neither 
man  made  any  pretense  of  ownership.  The  end  was  a 
bitter  quarrel,  after  which  Billington  armed  himself,  and, 
lying  in  wait  until  Newcomen  appeared,  deliberately 
shot  and  killed  him. 

A  solemn  trial  by  jury  ensued,  whereat  the  crime  was 
fully  proven  and  no  defense  was  attempted.  A  verdict 
of  willful  murder  was  brought  in,  and  no  recommenda 
tion  to  mercy  was  offered  by  the  stern  foreman.  The 
trial  could  not  have  been  more  deliberate  or  more  just, 
but  sentence  was  not  immediately  pronounced,  for  as 


120  BETTY  ALDEN. 

Bradford  frankly  declared  to  his  fellow  magistrates,  he 
shrank  both  before  God  and  man  from  pronouncing  the 
words  that  should  deprive  a  fellow  mortal  of  life,  and 
before  doing  so  he  desired  the  counsel  and  concurrence 
of  the  other  New  England  authorities. 

"  Who  killeth  man,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed," 
quoted  Endicott  in  the  silence  which  followed  Bradford's 
solemn  appeal.  "  It  is  the  law  of  God." 

"  And  haply,"  added  Winthrop,  "  a  sharp  example  in 
these  early  days  may  hinder  the  loss  of  more  valuable 
lives  hereafter." 

"  With  God  is  no  respect  of  persons,"  spoke  Elder 
Brewster  in  tones  of  stern  reproof ;  but  Parson  Wilson, 
with  almost  a  sneer,  retorted,  — 

"  Then  let  him  die  as  one  of  the  princes,  even  as  Zeb 
and  Salmana." 

A  little  more  discussion  followed,  but  the  result  was 
obvious,  and  the  next  day  Bradford  turned  his  face 
toward  home  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  yet  a  mind  re 
solved  upon  the  terrible  duty  soon  after  fulfilled. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SIR   CHRISTOPHER   GARDINER. 

IT  was  several  days  after  the  governor's  return  to 
Plymouth,  and  Alice  had  wondered  more  than  once  if 
aught  beside  the  gloom  and  sorrow  of  Billington's  exe 
cution  lay  upon  her  husband's  mind,  when,  after  noon  of 
one  of  those  heavenly  days  in  late  September,  in  which 
one's  whole  life  goes  out  to  the  joy  of  living,  Bradford 
after  hesitating  a  moment  at  the  door,  turned  back  and 
said,  — 

"  Come,  Elsie,  do  on  your  hood  and  walk  with  me  a 
little." 

"  Gay  and  gladly,  Will,"  replied  she,  and  in  a  few  mo 
ments  they  had  passed  down  by  Elder  Brewster's  house 
toward  the  brook,  and  then  turning  to  the  right  crossed 
on  the  stepping-stones,  and  striking  into  the  Namasket 
Path  strolled  along  until,  reaching  a  lovely  intervale,  af 
terward  called  Prence's  Bottom,  and  now  Hillside,  they 
sat  down  upon  a  fallen  tree  trunk,  and  Bradford  abruptly 
asked,  — 

"  Was  it  not  one  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner  that  our 
Pris  spoke  of  when  she  first  came  as  some  sort  of  sweet 
heart  of  hers  ?  " 

"  Yes.  He  gave  her  that  lordly  neckerchief  she 
wears  betimes.  She  calls  him  a  Knight  of  the  Golden 
Melice,  and  then  again  Knight  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  — 
poor  maid !  " 


122  BETTY  ALDEN. 

And  Alice  laughed  as  matrons  do  at  the  follies  of 
maidenhood.  But  Bradford  shook  his  head,  and  pluck 
ing  a  great  frond  of  goldenrod  softly  smote  his  own 
palm  with  it,  while  he  said,  — 

"  'T  is  a  bad  business,  Alice,  a  bad  business,  and  I 
fear  worse  may  come  of  it." 

"  Worse !  Worse  than  what,  Will  ?  There  's  no 
harm  done  as  yet.  The  girl 's  not  wearing  the  willow, 
nor  needing  pity  ;  it 's  not  likely  she  '11  see  or  hear  of 
him  again,  and  after  a  while  she  '11  wed  William  Wright, 
who  woos  her  honestly  and  openly." 

"  Alice,  the  man  is  here." 

"  Here  !      What  man  ?  " 

"Sir  Christopher  Gardiner,  Knight  of  the  Golden 
Melice  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  of  what  you  will 
beside.  I  've  seen  and  spoken  with  him,  wife." 

"  You  !     When  and  where,  for  pity's  sake  ?" 

"  Softly  now,  and  I  '11  tell  you.  When  we  left  the 
Bay  people  the  captain  would  have  us  stop  at  Squantum 
Head  to  visit  Mistress  Thompson  in  her  widowhood  and 
see  if  she  lacked  aught,  or  wished  us  to  recommend  her 
to  the  good  offices  of  her  neighbors  of  the  Bay,  and  so 
we  did  "  — 

"How  is  her  child,  Will?" 

"  Well  and  hearty,  as  is  she  herself,  and  farming 
her  island,  which  Standish  would  have  us  call  Trevor's 
Island,  but  we  would  liever  name  Thompson's  Island  in 
his  honor  who  was  her  husband  and  father  of  the  boy. 
Now  while  we  talked  with  the  widow,  I  remembered  me 
that  Winthrop  had  mentioned  some  new  settlers  hard 
by  Squantum,  a  gentleman,  as  he  said,  named  Gardiner, 
who  claimed  some  title,  and  who,  besides  several  ser 
vants,  entertained  as  housekeeper  a  comely  young 
woman  whom  he  called  his  cousin. 


SIR  CHRISTOPHER  GARDINER.  123 

"  Master  Winthrop  had  not  seen  them,  but  when  I 
said  we  would  tarry  a  little  with  the  Widow  Thompson, 
he  asked  me  if  it  were  in  my  way  to  take  a  look  at  this 
Gardiner,  and  let  him  hear  my  judgment  of  him.  Truth 
to  tell,  I  did  not  at  the  first  mind  me  of  our  Prissie's 
story  of  her  Knight  of  the  Golden  Melice,  for  such  toys 
Sfet  cast  into  the  dark  corners  of  a  man's  mind  "  — 

O 

"  Unless  it  be  his  own  case,  Will,"  interposed  Alice 
with  tender  jibing  in  her  voice. 

Bradford  smiled  reply,  but  went  on  with  his  story. 
"  So  while  the  rest  drank  a  cup  of  metheglin,  and  ate 
some  of  Mistress  Thompson's  curds  and  cream,  Standish 
and  I  clomb  the  brave  headland  ever  I  hope  to  be 
known  as  Squanto's  Point,  and  presently  came  upon  a 
new  cabin  fairly  seated  above  a  rising  ground  some  half 
mile  south  of  the  Neponset's  River ;  a  pretty  home  as 
one  would  wish  to  see,  with  a  posy  bed  under  the  win 
dow,  and  vines  from  the  woods  trained  over  the  door 
and  casement,  this  last  set  with  glass  and  swinging  open, 
for  all  the  world  like  a  cottage  of  Old  England. 

"  Well,  we  came  to  the  door,  and  Standish  rapped 
with  his  sword  hilt  after  his  own  masterful  fashion,  so 
that  there  presently  run  out  a  —  well,  I  was  about  to 
say  a  maid,  for  she  was  young  and  very  comely  to  look 
upon,  but  in  sad  certainty  I  know  not  —  she  may  be  the 
man's  wife,  and  charity  will  not  have  us  suspect  ill  that 
is  not  brought  home  by  proof." 

"  How  was  she  so  very  fair,  Will  ?  " 

"  Why,  her  hair  was  of  yellow  gold,  and  her  eyes  blue 
as  a  June  sky,  and  the  white  and  red  of  her  face  so 
cunningly  mixt  that  it  minded  me  of  the  may  in  our 
hedges  at  home,  or  of  the  mayflower  that  we  find  here 
in  Plymouth  woods,  and  her  shape  was  lissome  and  de- 


124  BETTY  ALDEN. 

lightsome  as  those  young  birches,  and  her  little  hands 
were  white  and  soft,  and  her  voice  as  sweet  as  — 
Why,  Elsie,  woman,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  'T  is  naught,  't  is  naught !  Leave  go  my  hand  I 
pray  you,  sir.  I  'm  for  home,  but  you  need  not  haste !  " 

"  Now,  now,  now !  What,  is  mine  own  true-love 
jealous  that  I  find  another  woman  fair  ?  Why,  Elsie,  I 
go  well-nigh  to  blush  for  you  !  Come  then,  to  punish 
you  I  '11  not  say  the  words  that  were  springing  to  my 
lips.  I  '11  not  tell  how  the  frighted,  guilty  look  of 
those  blue  eyes  minded  me  of  other  eyes  steadfast  and 
pure  and  serene  as  the  evening  star,  nor  how  the  flut 
tering,  broken  tones  of  that  sweet  voice  brought  to  the 
ears  of  my  heart  a  voice  as  sweet  as  that,  but  calm 
and  steady,  and  full  of  the  assured  peace  of  a  clear  con 
science  "  — 

"  Nay,  then,  Will,  tell  me  naught,  but  let  me  creep 
close  to  thy  knee  like  a  chidden  child  and  hide  my  face 
thus,  for  indeed  I  'm  shamed  to  show  it." 

"  Nay,  let  me  look  once  upon  thee  in  sweet  penitence, 
since  't  is  so  seldom  one  may  find  the  chance !  Well 
there,  then,  hide  it  an  thou  wilt,  sweetheart,  for  if  I 
look  too  closely  on  't  I  forget  all  else.  Well,  then,  this 
lady,  we  will  call  her,  ran  to  see  who  knocked,  and  meet 
ing  Myles's  grim  face,  which  he  had  forgot  to  deck  for 
lady's  gaze,  she  uttered  a  sharp  little  cry,  and  fell  back 
to  give  place  to  the  gay  figure  of  such  a  cavalier  as  we 
used  to  see  strutting  up  and  down  Paul's  Walk  in  Lon 
don,  hand  on  hips,  and  mustachios  curled  up  to  either 
eye,  and  beaver  cocked  a'  one  side,  and  laces  and  fine 
needlework,  with  velvets  and  silks,  and  all  scented  like  a 
posy  bed,  or  the  civet  cat  you  love  so  well." 

"  I  mind  me  of  the  gallants  of  Paul's  Walk,  Will ;  but 


SIR  CHRISTOPHER  GARDINER.  125 

did  this  man  really  have  laces  and  needlework  and  scent 
and  all  those  matters  ?  " 

"  Well,  he  had  the  air  of  having  them,  sweetheart, 
and  that  is  still  the  main  point,  you  know.  So  out  he 
came,  hand  on  sword  hilt,  and  eyes  so  terrific  that  I, 
poor  wight,  shrunk  back  affrighted  "  — 

"  You  affrighted,  indeed  !  " 

"  Ay,  hut  you  don't  know  how  terrific  a  mien  this 
paladin  put  on,  dame  !  Our  captain  bristled  at  sight  of 
it  as  the  wolf  hound  does  at  sight  of  the  wolf,  and  I 
feared  me  for  the  moment  that  they  would  fall  to  before 
I  could  cry,  '  A  list,  a  list,  good  gentles  ' !  " 

"  Oh,  Will,  how  can  you  !     But  go  on." 

"Well,  seeing  the  peril,  I  stirred  myself  as  best  I 
might  to  avoid  it,  and  elbowing  Standish  aside,  I  doffed 
my  hat  and  said,  —  • 

" '  Pardon,  good  sir,  but  we  have  come  to  change  cour 
tesies  with  our  neighbors.  We  are  men  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  and  have  been  to  visit  the  new-comers  at  the 
Bay,  who  told  us  you  were  here.' 

"  Upon  that  our  host's  visage  relaxed,  and  he  made 
some  sort  of  civil  reply,  although  none  could  doubt  he 
would  liever  our  room  than  our  company ;  but  he  had  us 
in,  and  as  the  young  woman  lingered  near,  he  spoke  of 
her  presently  as  '  My  cousin,  Mistress  Mary  Grove,  who 
of  her  kindness  keepeth  my  house.' 

"  '  And  your  name,  sir,  is  Gardiner  ?  '  queried  I ;  and 
he,  cock-a-hoop  in  a  moment  as  one  insulted,  set  his  hat 
on  's  head,  and  twisting  his  mustachios  to  a  needle's 
point,  pouted  his  lips  to  say,  — 

"  '  I  am  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner,  sirs,  Knight  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  and  Chevalier  of  the  Golden  Melice. 
And  your  names  and  quality,  if  I  may  make  so  bold  ?  ' 


126  BETTY  ALDEN. 

4<  But  so  insolent  was  the  tone  and  so  belligerent  the 
manner  of  this  announcement  that  before  I  could  find 
words  for  reply  the  captain  stepped  before  me,  his  own 
hat  set  aside,  and,  Heaven  save  the  mark !  twisting  his 
own  stubbly  russet  mustachios  as  fiercely  as  the  other, 
the  while  his  hand  on  Gideon's  hilt,  he  cried,  — 

"  «  This  gentleman  is  Master  William  Bradford,  Gov 
ernor  of  Plymouth  Colony ;  and  I  am  Myles  Standish, 
commandant,  for  want  of  a  better,  of  the  colony's  mili 
tary  force.' 

"  Now  this  bold  assumption,  which  would  have  made 
some  men  laugh,  and  set  others  upon  opposition,  just 
jumped  with  the  humor  of  our  new  friend,  and  taking 
off  his  hat,  he  held  out  a  hand  for  ours  ;  saying,  hand 
somely  enough,  that  he  had  heard  marvelous  tales  of  our 
captain's  prowess,  and  also  of  the  wisdom,  and  I  know 
not  what,  of  Plymouth's  governor.  Faith,  I  know  not 
but  he  said  he  had  crossed  the  seas  to  look  upon  two 
such  marvels !  Certes,  he  gave  no  other  motive,  since 
in  religion  he  seems  of  that  convenient  stripe  which  fits 
with  any  pattern,  and  for  hard  work  he  is  no  better 
fitted  than  is  his  cousin  and  housekeeper,  whose  lily- 
white  hands  could  ill  trundle  a  mop  or  work  a  churn- 
dasher." 

"  And  what  do  they  honestly  seek  here  in  the  wilder 
ness  ?  " 

"  Why,  truth  to  tell,  I  fear  me  they  seek  nothing  hon 
estly,  but  the  rather  a  dishonest  refuge  from  judgment. 
If  ever  woman  wore  a  guilty  and  shamefaced  look,  it 
was  that  poor  wench  when  first  she  met  us ;  and  as  for 
the  man,  although  he  vapored  much  about  his  desire  for 
a  quiet  life,  far  from  the  setbacks  and  downfalls  of 
worldly  affairs,  and  his  love  of  sylvan  solitudes  and  the 


SIR  CHRISTOPHER  GARDINER.  127 

like,  I  trust  him  not,  —  nay,  not  so  far  as  just  out  of 
reach  of  a  tipstaff's  clutch ;  he  's  false,  so  false  that  even 
as  he  talked  he  seemed  to  sneer  at  his  own  professions." 

"  But  our  Prissie,  Will !  If  this  is  indeed  the  man 
she  talked  of  "  — 

"  Ay,  that 's  where  the  matter  sits  close  to  our  hearts, 
wife.  Did  ever  she  talk  of  him  to  you,  in  the  way  of 
picturing  out  his  face  and  mien  ?  " 

"  Nay,  for  after  that  once  I  never  would  let  her  talk 
of  him  ;  but  still  she  gave  me  the  notion  of  a  gay  cava 
lier,  such  a  man  as  haunts  the  king's  court,  and  as  you 
say  struts  in  Paul's  Walk,  —  a  man  who  well  might  be 
the  one  you  and  the  captain  saw." 

"  But  —  Mary  Grove  ?  " 

The  matron's  fair  cheek  flushed  a  little,  for  the  purity 
of  that  age  was  of  the  order  that  hates  sin  without  hav 
ing  learned  to  love  the  sinner,  and  shrinks  back  from 
the  sight  or  touch  of  evil  instead  of  fearlessly  examining 
the  hurt,  and  applying  the  oil  and  wine.  The  world 
does  grow  in  good,  let  the  pessimists  deny  it  as  they 
may. 

"  Pris  will  never  know  that  the  man  is  on  this  side 
the  sea,  unless  we  tell  her,"  said  Alice  presently. 

"  No.  And  I  will  caution  the  captain  not  to  mention 
the  matter." 

"  Oh,  he  will  have  mentioned  it  to  Barbara,  and  she  to 
Priscilla  Alden,  before  this  !  "  exclaimed  Alice.  "  They 
are  like  one  household,  the  Standishes  and  Aldens,  and 
Priscilla  loves  to  talk." 

"  But  Barbara  is  very  prudent,  and  if  she  has  heard 
so  ill  a  story  will  think  twice  before  she  spreads  it.  I 
never  knew  a  woman  less  given  to  gossip,  except  mine 
own  wife.  I  '11  tell  thee,  Alice,  I  '11  ask  Myles  if  he  has 


128  BETTY  ALDEN. 

told  the  tale ;  and  if  he  has,  I  '11  ask  him  to  speak  to 
Barbara  and  find  how  far  it  has  gone." 

"  But  do  not  tell  even  the  captain  of  our  poor  maid's 
folly,"  interposed  Alice. 

"  Nay,  child,  I  'm  as  jealous  for  Prissie's  good  name 
as  if  she  were  mine  own  sister.  Come,  you  are  shivering, 
and  the  night  dews  begin  to  fall.  Let  us  go  home." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ONE  !    TWO  !    THREE  !       FIRE  ! 

ALICE  BRADFORD'S  instinct  had  correctly  foreseen 
that  Myles  would  narrate  his  adventures  to  his  wife  just 
as  Bradford  had  to  his  ;  but  the  governor's  reason  was 
also  correct  in  arguing  that  Barbara  would  be  likely  to 
keep  such  a  story  to  herself,  and  the  rather  that  .Pris 
Carpenter  had  once  spoken  the  name  of  Sir  Christopher 
Gardiner  in  her  presence  with  so  much  of  maidenly  flut 
ter  that  Barbara  felt  there  was  a  story  underneath. 

So  when  Bradford  took  occasion,  over  a  pipe  in  the 
captain's  den,  to  suggest  that  it  was  as  well  for  the  pres 
ent  to  keep  the  story  of  the  knight  of  the  Golden  Mel- 
ice  from  the  public,  Myles  replied  with  a  laugh,  — 

"  So  says  Mistress  Standish.  I  told  her,  as  indeed  I 
tell  her  most  matters  ;  but  when  she  had  listened,  her 
first  word  was,  *  I  hope  neither  you  nor  the  governor 
will  noise  this  story  abroad,  for  it  might  do  much  harm, 
and  could  do  no  good.'  A  prudent  woman  is  "  — 

"  From  the  Lord,"  said  Bradford.  "  And  you  and  I 
have  cause  to  thank  Him  for  the  gift." 

The  talk  drifted  to  other  matters ;  and  as  the  weeks 
arid  months  went  on,  the  subject  was  not  resumed  until 
March  came  in  with  all  the  chilly  rigor  of  a  New  Eng 
land  seashore  spring,  and  yet  with  certain  fitful  gleams 
and  promises  of  better  things  in  store.  It  was  in  the 
midst  of  one  of  those  tempestuous  storms  incident  to 


130  BETTY  ALDEN. 

March,  and  always  reminding  one  of  a  fascinating 
naughty  child's  passionate  burst  of  temper,  that  Hobo- 
mok  appeared  at  the  Fort,  escorting  a  stranger  Indian. 

*'  Weetonawah  wants  head  chief,"  announced  he  suc 
cinctly. 

The  captain  looked  up  from  his  Caesar,  and  laid 
down  his  pipe. 

"  Weetonawah  is  welcome,"  said  he  in  the  Pokanoket 
dialect,  which  he  had  acquired  in  perfection.  "  But  Ho- 
bomok  should  not  bring  him  here.  The  head  chief's 
wigwam  is  below  the  hill." 

"  Pokanokets  like  The-Sword-of-the-White-Men  best," 
replied  the  stranger  in  a  final  sort  of  manner,  and  Ho- 
bomok's  suppressed  "  Hugh  !  "  seemed  to  indorse  the 
sentiment.  Standish  smiled,  —  for  who  does  not  love 
to  be  trusted  above  his  fellows  ?  —  and,  rising,  he  threw 
his  cloak  about  his  shoulders,  saying,  — 

"  Well,  we  will  seek  the  head  chief  together,  and  take 
counsel  upon  thy  matters,  Weetonawah." 

So,  unmindful  of  the  rain,  as  men  who  live  close  to 
Nature  will  still  become,  the  three  went  down  the  hill, 
and  found  Bradford  in  his  study  reading  the  Georgics, 
until  such  time  as  the  weather  would  permit  him  to 
plough  his  own  fields  ;  for  now  that  "  oxen  strong  to  la 
bor  "  had  immigrated,  their  fellow-colonists  were  able  to 
improve  upon  the  earlier  methods  of  agriculture,  and  the 
plough  had  superseded  the  hoe  whose  rude  labors  had 
slain  John  Carver.  Laying  aside  the  book,  but  with  its 
pleasant  influence  upon  his  face,  Bradford  received  his 
guests,  gave  a  cup  of  metheglin  to  each  of  the  Indians, 
who  would  rather  it  had  been  Nantz,  and  asked  Standish 
what  he  would  take,  but  the  captain  shook  his  head. 

"  I  've  had  my  noon  meat,  and  care  for  nothing  until 


ONE!   TWO!  THREE!     FIRE!  131 

night.     Now,  Weetonawah,  tell  out  your  tidings  to  the 
head  chief." 

So  Weetonawah,  who  spoke  no  English,  told  in  his  own 
tongue  —  Standish  now  and  again  translating  for  the 
benefit  of  Bradford,  who  never  became  as  apt  an  Indian 
scholar  as  the  captain  —  how  he  and  a  Massachusetts 
brave,  while  hunting,  had  come  across  a  white  man  seated 
beside  a  camp-fire,  and  leaning  his  head  upon  his  hand 
as  though  sick  or  sorry,  they  knew  not  which.  Ap 
proaching  with  due  precautions,  they  found  him  friendly, 
and  willing  to  change  tobacco  for  some  birds  to  make  a 
broth,  for  he  was  so  fevered  as  not  to  crave  solid  food. 
But  when  they  had  parted  from  him  a  little  way,  the 
Massachusetts  man  halted,  and  choosing  a  war-arrow 
from  his  quiver,  gave  Weetonawah  to  understand  that 
this  was  a  criminal  fleeing  from  justice,  and  that  the 
white  men  at  the  Bay  had  bade  the  Indians  search  the 
woods  between  Shawmut  and  Piscataqua  for  him,  prom 
ising  a  reward  to  whoever  should  bring  him  in. 

Still,  during  the  brief  interview  beside  the  camp-fire, 
both  red  men  had  silently  marked  how  thoroughly  armed, 
and  how  alert  in  spite  of  his  illness,  the  fugitive  remained, 
and  the  Massachusetts  man  felt  that  at  close  quarters  he 
might  fare  even  as  Wituwamat  or  Pecksuot  in  combat 
with  The-Sword-of-the-White-Men ;  so,  even  in  their 
friendly  parting,  he  had  laid  his  plan  to  turn  back  and 
shoot  the  sick  man  as  he  crouched  over  his  fire  ;  and  lest 
his  comrade  should  claim  any  part  of  the  reward,  he 
would  go  upon  the  war-path  alone,  and  rejoin  him  at  the 
wigwams  of  the  Namasket  village. 

But  Weetonawah  was  brother  to  one  of  the  men  killed 
at  Wessagussett,  and  he  had  imbibed  such  a  terror  of 
The-Sword-of-the- White-Men  and  his  vengeance  upon 


132  BETTY  ALDEN. 

those  who  molested  the  palefaces  that  he  would  rather 
have  killed  his  Massachusetts  friend,  and  taken  the 
chances  of  punishment  from  Massasoit,  than  to  be  named 
as  companion  of  an  Indian  who  had  killed  a  white  man. 
So,  half  by  argument  and  half  by  threat,  he  led  away 
the  assassin,  and  forced  from  him  a  promise  to  suspend 
his  purpose  until  orders  should  be  obtained  from  Ply 
mouth  ;  consenting  that  if  the  head  chief  and  The  Sword 
gave  permission,  he  should  alone  slay  the  fugitive  and 
claim  the  reward. 

So  far,  Weetonawah  spoke  and  Bradford  listened,  but 
at  this  point  he  started  up  and  exclaimed,  — 

"  An  Indian  promise  !  Who  knows  but  that  even  now 
the  wretch  has  stolen  back  to  slay  yonder  poor  fugitive  ? 
Horrible !  What  warrant  have  you,  Indian,  for  believ 
ing  this  murderer  will  refrain  ?  " 

Sternly  repeating  the  query,  and  receiving  the  reply, 
Standish  grimly  smiled. 

"  He  says  that  the  Massachusetts  swore  upon  his 
totem,  but  to  make  the  matter  sure  he  brought  him 
along  hither,  promising  him  a  good  noggin  of  strong 
waters,  and  he  is  even  now  in  the  kitchen,  waiting." 

"  Have  him  in !  Hobomok,  fetch  him  in  !  "  cried 
Bradford,  still  in  dismay.  "  Kill  a  white  man  in  cold 
blood !  Shoot  a  sick  man  shivering  over  a  camp-fire  ! 
Standish,  they  are  savages  and  heathen  to  the  end,  and 
we  may  as  well  preach  Christ  to  the  wolves  and  bears  as 
to  them." 

"  Your  best  Indian  preacher  is  still  a  snaphance," 
replied  the  captain  grimly,  as  his  mind  glanced  back 
to  Pastor  Robinson's  strictures  upon  the  Wessagussett 
chastisement. 

'*  Here  they  come !     Now  speak  to  this  man  in  his 


ONE!   TWO!   THREE!     FIRE!  133 

own  tongue,  and  make  him  understand  that  if  he  kills 
this  white  man  we  will  require  it  at  his  hand,  and  that, 
after  no  stinted  measure.  Terrify  him,  Myles,  as  you 
well  know  how!  They  fear  you  more  than  all  the 
power  of  the  Bay  Colony  put  together." 

Now  the  fact  remains  that  so  long  as  Myles  Standish 
lived  his  was  a  name  to  conjure  with  among  the  red 
men  ;  and  although,  except  at  Wessagussett,  he  seldom, 
if  ever,  was  engaged  in  actual  conflict,  or  was  guilty  of 
their  blood,  the  rumor  of  his  coming  was  enough  to 
disperse  many  an  angry  party,  and  to  restrain  many 
incendiary  counsels.  Nor  was  it  fear  alone,  for  the  sav 
ages  admired  and  emulated,  yes,  and  loved  the  man ; 
he  went  freely  among  them,  slept  in  their  wigwams, 
ate  beside  their  fires,  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  with 
their  warriors,  and  showed  human  and  friendly  interest 
in  their  concerns.  Never  at  any  crisis  did  he  forget  to 
exempt  women  and  children  from  the  fortunes  of  war, 
and  it  was  under  neither  his  leadership  nor  his  counsels 
that  the  Pequot  atrocities  were  committed  by  the  soldiers 
of  the  Puritan  Bay  Colony. 

So  now,  as  he  sternly  addressed  the  Shawmut  Indian 
in  his  own  tongue,  the  latter  visibly  quailed,  and,  not 
daring  to  reply  directly,  slunk  behind  Hobomok,  and  in 
a  torrent  of  muttered  gutturals  besought  him  to  assure 
The  Sword  that  his  voice  was  as  the  voice  of  the  Great 
Spirit,  and  he  would  obey  it  as  implicitly,  for  if  he  did 
not  his  own  totem  would  turn  upon  him  and  destroy 
him,  as  indeed  he  should  well  deserve,  and  —  But  here 
Standish  held  up  a  hand  and  impatiently  interrupted 
with,  — 

"  There,  there,  that 's  enough  !  You  understand  me, 
Shawmut,  and  you  know  that  what  I  promise  I  perform. 
Now  then,  Bradford,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  " 


134  BETTY  ALL  EN. 

"  Why,  the  man  must  be  taken  and  brought  in  as 
gently  as  may  be.  Doubtless  he  is  in  some  sort  a  law 
breaker  hiding  from  the  justice  of  Governor  Winthrop, 
and  it  may  be  our  duty  to  return  him  to  the  Bay ;  but 
the  first  thing  is  to  discover  who  he  is  and  of  what  ac 
cused.  Explain,  if  it  please  you,  to  both  these  Indians 
that  they  are  to  find  this  man,  and  take  him  by  force 
of  numbers  or  strategy,  but  without  violence,  and  bring 
him  safely  to  this  house.  What  reward  have  the  author 
ities  of  the  Bay  offered  for  his  capture  ?  " 

"  A  kilderkin  of  biscuit,  a  horseman's  cloak,  and  five 
ells  of  scarlet  cloth,"  reported  Standish  after  a  good 
deal  of  discussion  with  the  two  Indians. 

"  The  Bay  is  rich,"  replied  Bradford  dryly.  "  Tell 
them  if  they  bring  in  this  man  unharmed  we  will  give 
twenty  pound  weight  of  sugar,  and  that  is  a  large  re 
ward,  be  the  man  who  he  may." 

The  Massachusetts  Indian  listened  as  this  proffer  was 
repeated,  and  then  in  his  guttural  and  sullen  voice  mut 
tered  something  at  which  Standish  frowned  and  an 
swered  angrily,  while  Hobomok  gave  way  to  a  derisive 
chuckle.  As  the  two  turned  and  glided  stealthily  out  of 
the  room,  the  captain  also  laughed  and  said,  — 

"  The  red  rascal  wanted  a  piece  and  some  powder 
and  shot,  or  at  least  a  pottle  or  two  of  firewater,  as  he 
calls'  it." 

"  Ay !  there 's  the  outcome  of  Thomas  Morton's 
work,"  replied  Bradford.  "  The  Bay  people  dealt  hardly 
with  him,  yet  none  too  hardly  when  we  see  the  despite 
he  has  done  to  all  of  us  by  arming  the  savages." 

"  Hardly,  do  you  call  it  ?  "  echoed  Standish.  "  Well, 
I  know  not.  Had  I  been  the  judge  the  sentence  should 
have  been  shorter  and  less  spiteful.  To  my  mind  it  is 


ONE!  TWO!   THREE!     FIRE!  135 

too  much  like  the  savages  themselves  to  crop  a  man's 
ears,  and  set  him  in  the  stocks,  and  pelt  him  with  gar 
bage,  and  burn  his  house  in  his  own  sight,  and  mulct 
him  of  his  money,  and  ship  him  out  of  the  country,  and 
after  all  leave  him  at  liberty  to  pull  the  wool  over  the 
eyes  of  the  big-wigs  and  come  back  again  to  plague  us 
as  he  did  before.  'T  is  womanish  to  invent  so  many 
ways  of  tormenting  an  offender,  and  yet  not  put  further 
offense  out  of  his  power." 

"And  if  you  had  been  judge?  "  asked  Bradford  with 
a  shrewd  smile. 

For  answer  the  captain  raised  an  imaginary  m'ece  to 
his  shoulder  and  gave  the  word  of  command,  — 

"  One !  Two  !  Three  !     FIRE !  " 

And  with  the  last  word  he  brought  down  his  right 
foot  with  full  force  upon  his  own  pipe,  which  had  fallen 
unheeded  from  his  pocket.  The  governor  laughed,  and 
Standish  ruefully  picked  up  the  amber  mouthpiece,  ex 
claiming,  — 

"  Now,  by  my  faith !  there  goes  the  meerschaum 
that  Jans  Wiederhausen  carved  on  purpose  for  a  parting 
gift  to  me  when  we  left  Leyden  ten  year  ago.  And 
serves  me  right  for  wasting  time  on  such  boys'  tricks  as 
yon  brag  of  what  I  might  have  done  had  all  been  other 
than  it  was.  Well,  well !  Sorry  and  sad  I  am  to  lose 
that  pipe  !  Now  I  must  turn  to  the  one  Hobomok  has 
carved  out  of  what  I  take  to  be  a  jasper  stone,  but  't  is 
heavy,  and  cannot  drink  up  the  poison  of  the  tobacco  as 
my  meerschaum  did.  There  's  naught  for  a  pipe  like 
meerschaum,  Will." 

"  Clay  is  well  enough  for  me,"  replied  the  governor 
with  a  smile,  as  he  brought  a  new  clay  pipe  from  the 
cupboard  and  presented  it  to  Myles, 


136  BETTY  ALDEN. 

Nor  shall  we  be  surprised  to  hear  that  when,  a  year 
later,  Captain  William  Pierce  came  over  in  the  Lyon  to 
Boston  Bay,  he  brought  a  fine  meerschaum  pipe  as  a 
present  from  Governor  Bradford  to  his  friend  Captain 
Standish. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SIR   CHRISTOPHER   ENJOYS   THE    CHASE. 

FIVE  days  later,  Priscilla  Alden  sat  in  the  gloaming 
of  the  wild  March  day  before  a  fire  so  cheerful  as  to  be 
truly  perilous  to  the  chimney  of  sticks  laid  up  with  mud 
attached  like  an  elongated  hornet's  nest  to  the  outside  of 
the  house.  Upon  her  knees  lay  little  Sally,  future  wife 
of  Alexander  Standish,  but  just  now  a  child  of  two 
years  old,  with  a  bad  cold  upon  her  lungs  and  a  ten 
dency  to  croup,  or,  as  her  mother  called  it,  quinsy ;  and 
it  was  by  way  of  an  ounce  of  prevention  that  Priscilla 
was  roasting  the  little  thing  before  this  huge  fire,  and  at 
the  same  time  diligently  rubbing  her  chest  and  throat 
with  goose  grease.  The  child,  hardly  knowing  whether 
to  be  amused  or  annoyed  at  the  process,  kicked  and 
struggled,  uttering  little  cries  varying  from  crowing 
laughter  to  indignant  squeals,  while  the  mother  made 
all  the  play  she  could  of  the  affair,  now  tickling  the 
small  creature  in  her  fat  neck,  now  answering  her  cries 
with  counter-cries  and  merry  Boo !  Boo !  Boo !  and 
anon,  — 

"  See,  Sally  !  See  the  pretty  fire  !  Shall  mother  throw 
Sally  in  and  burn  her  all  up  ?  "  rubbing  away  meantime, 
until  the  child's  white  skin  glowed  like  a  rose  and  glis 
tened  like  a  mirror. 

"  She  looks  like  the  suckling  pig  you  roasted  last 
Thanksgiving,  mother,"  remarked  John  junior,  who 


138  BETTY  ALDEN. 

stood  drying  his  feet  before  the  unusual  fire,  prepara 
tory  to  rushing  out  and  wetting  them  again. 

"  Why  so  she  is,  mother's  darling  little  piggie-wiggie, 
mother's  little  suckling  piggie-wiggie,  and  she  shall  be 
all  nicely  basted  and  set  down  to  roast  for  daddy's  sup 
per,  so  she  shall !  Now,  now,  now  !  One  more  little  rub 
to  drive  the  basting  well  in  !  Now,  now,  now,  mammy's 
little  Sally  !  Phew  !  who  's  at  the  door,  Johnny  ?  Run 
and  shut  it  before  the  air  reaches  little  sister  !  " 

"  It  's  only  Betty,"  remarked  John  with  brotherly 
indifference,  but  still  running  to  help  his  sister  close  the 
door  against  the  playful  south  wind  which  insisted  upon 
coming  in  along  with  his  playmate,  who  laughed  aloud 
as  she  closed  the  door  in  his  face,  set  her  back  against 
it,  and  pulled  off  her  hood  to  rearrange  the  soft  red 
hair  blown  all  over  her  face.  Glancing  toward  her,  the 
mother  smiled  with  involuntary  delight  in  her  child's 
beauty  ;  and  truly  Betty  was  very  pretty,  very  pretty 
indeed,  having  selected  her  features  and  coloring  from 
her  father's  pure  Saxon  type  and  her  mother's  Latin 
traits,  with  rare  eclecticism  ;  for  her  deep  and  rich  red 
hair  was  far  more  beautiful  than  John's  blond  locks  or 
Priscilla's  dusky  tresses,  and  her  eyes,  halting  between 
his  blue  orbs  and  her  dark  ones,  had  resulted  in  that 
sparkling  brown  we  all  love  to  watch  in  the  woodland 
brook  stealing  out  from  the  roots  of  trees.  Her  com 
plexion,  neither  pale  nor  dark,  was  at  once  glowing  and 
delicate,  the  white  values  bordering  upon  cream  rather 
than  snow,  and  the  reds  suggesting  carnations  rather 
than  roses.  As  for  the  mouth,  it  was  too  young  yet  to 
have  got  its  expression,  but  the  lines  were  noble  and 
clear,  sweet  and  pure,  promising  much  for  their  matu 
rity.  A  winsome  little  lassie,  and  so  her  mother  knew, 


SIB  CHRISTOPHER  ENJOYS  THE  CHASE.      139 

but  was  far  too  wise  to  show  it.  In  fact,  her  tone  was 
almost  reproving  as  she  said,  — 

"  Why,  Betty  !  How  you  are  blown  about !  You  are 
growing  too  big  a  girl  to  play  the  hoiden." 

"  Goody  Billington  calls  me  a  tear-coat,"  replied  the 
child,  laughing  in  a  blithe,  fearless  voice  very  pleasant 
to  hear. 

"  Goody  Billington "  —  began  the  mother,  flushing 
a  little,  but  checking  herself  as  she  sat  Sally  up  and 
pulled  her  little  red  flannel  nightgown  over  her  head, 
while  she  asked  in  quite  another  tone,  "  Did  you  see 
father,  Betty  ?  " 

"  Yes  'm,  and  he  sent  me  to  tell  you  he  'd  not  be  home 
for  a  little  while.  Oh,  mother,  what  do  you  think !  I  was 
running  out  north  to  find  father,  as  you  bade  me,  and 
just  as  he  stepped  out  of  the  woods  with  his  axe  and 
Rover,  we  saw  two  Indians  coming  down  the  trail,  and 
they  were  driving  a  man,  a  white  man,  in  front  of  them  ; 
and  he  looked  so  tired  and  so  sick,  and  all  bent  over  as 
if  he  would  fall  down,  and  no  hat  or  cloak,  and  his 
doublet  tattered  and  torn  like  the  scarecrow  we  dressed 
for  the  cornfield,  and  his  poor  hands  all  cut  and  bleed 
ing  and  tied  behind  him  with  a  strip  of  deer-hide,  and 
one  of  the  Indians  holding  the  end  of  it,  and  every 
once  in  a  while  jerking  it  to  make  the  poor  man  go  on  ; 
for  indeed  he  looked  fit  to  fall  every  minute,  and,  cold 
as  it  was,  the  sweat  dropped  off  the  dark  points  of  his 
hair  and  rolled  down  his  poor  dirty  face.  Oh,  mother, 
I  was  like  to  cry  at  such  a  sight,  and  father  "  — 

"Ay,  what  did  your  father  do?"  asked  Priscilla 
eagerly,  as,  lapping  the  child  close  to  her  breast,  she 
turned  half  round  toward  Betty,  who  with  fixed  eyes 
seemed  witnessing  again  the  piteous  sight  she  described. 


140  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Oh,  father  !  He  talked  with  them  a  little,  but  you 
know  he  is  none  so  quick  at  the  Indian,  not  like  the 
captain  "  — 

"Never  mind,"  interrupted  Priscilla  impatiently. 
"  'T  is  not  for  you  to  say  another  man  's  quicker  at 
aught  than  your  father,  but  what  came  of  it  ?  " 

"  Why,  when  father  had  talked  a  little  he  shook  his 
head  and  said  in  English,  'Nay,  I  can  make  naught 
on  't ;  you  must  come  to  the  governor ; '  and  then  we  all 
came  on  toward  the  housen,  and  daddy  said  to  me  that 
I  should  run  home  like  a  good  girl,  and  tell  you  he 
would  be  here  anon,  when  he  had  seen  the  governor." 

"  Ay,  he  '11  not  think  of  himself  till  every  one  else 
is  served,  but  I  '11  not  let  him  balk  himself  of  a  good 
supper  if  I  cook  a  dozen,  one  after  the  other." 

And  Priscilla,  stepping  into  the  little  bedroom  off  the 
kitchen,  laid  the  sleeping  baby  in  her  cradle,  and  had 
no  more  than  returned  to  the  larger  room  when  the 
door  again  opened  to  admit  her  husband,  with  a  look  of 
considerable  perplexity  upon  his  genial  face. 

"  Well,  goodman,  and  what  's  it  all  about  ? "  de 
manded  Priscilla  with  her  usual  impetuosity,  as,  coming 
within  the  radius  of  her  influence,  John's  brow  cleared, 
and  an  expectant  smile  softened  his  mouth. 

"  Why,  dame,  't  is  a  coil,  for  you  to  unravel  if  thou 
canst.  Betty  told  you,  mayhap,  of  the  prisoner  the 
Indians  brought  in." 

"  Yes  ?  " 

"  Well,  the  governor  and  the  captain  and  Hobomok 
are  off  to  the  woods  after  deer,  and  not  yet  home,  and 
Dame  Bradford  and  her  sister  are  in  the  woods  look 
ing  for  wintergreen  and  sassafras  for  the  spring  beer 
the  dame  makes  so  famously  after  thy  recipe  "  — 


SIR  CHRISTOPHER  ENJOYS  THE  CHASE.      141 

"  Nay,  she  makes  it  better  than  I,"  interrupted  Pris- 
cilla,  replying  to  her  husband's  proud  smile.  "  Well  ?  " 

"  So  Christian  Penn  would  not  let  me  leave  the  sav 
ages  and  the  captive  there,  for  the  Indians  could  n't, 
and  the  white  man  would  n't,  speak  a  word  of  English, 
and  so  "  — 

"  You  brought  them  home,  goodman  ?  " 

"Why  yes  ;  how  did  you  know  that,  Priscilla?  " 

"  By  art  magic.     Where  are  they  now  ?  " 

"  I  left  them  in  the  cowshed  until  I  knew  thy  mind 
about  it,  wife." 

"  Nay,  then,  John  !  When  was  my  mind  other  than 
thine  in  a  deed  of  charity  ?  "  asked  Priscilla  tenderly. 
"  Fetch  them  in,  I  pray  thee,  with  no  more  ado." 

And  in  a  moment  more  John  had  ushered  in  a  figure 
at  sight  of  which  Priscilla  exclaimed  indignantly,  — 

"  Why  did  you  not  unbind  his  arms,  John  Aid  en  ? 
The  shame  of  seeing  a  white  man  so  used  by  savages, 
and  you  not  to  make  in  to  his  rescue  !  " 

"  He  would  not  have  it,  nor  would  the  Indians,"  ex 
postulated  John  helplessly. 

"  Would  not  have  it !  "  repeated  his  wife  contemptu 
ously,  while  with  the  scissors  hanging  at  her  girdle 
she  cut  the  thong  of  deer-hide  painfully  binding  the 
wounded  wrists  of  the  captive.  As  she  approached,  one 
of  the  Indians  growled  a  remonstrance  and  muttered 
something,  of  which  Alden  understood  only  the  words 
"  Big  Chief,"  but  with  one  stride  he  placed  himself  be 
tween  his  wife  and  the  remonstrant,  and  first  laboriously 
evolving  Indian  words  equivalent  to  "  Stand  back  !  It 's 
all  right !  "  he  added  in  English,  — 

"  The  Big  Chief  is  n't  at  home,  but  I  'm  here,  and  my 
wife  will  do  as  she  sees  fit.  It  '11  be  bad  for  the  man 
who  tries  to  hinder  her." 


142  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  And  did  not  you  want  my  husband  to  unbind  your 
hands,  friend  ?  "  asked  Priscilla,  as  she  gently  removed 
the  thong  which  had  sunk  deep  into  the  bruised  flesh. 

"My  thanks  to  you,  fair  dame,"  replied  the  stranger, 
breaking  silence  for  the  first  time.  "  No,  I  did  not  wish 
to  be  released  until  the  Governor  or  the  Captain  of  Ply 
mouth  had  seen  my  plight  and  told  me  if  it  was  by  their 
command  these  savages  had  thus  dealt  with  me  ;  I  knew 
not  what  might  be  the  authority  of  this  gentleman  "  — 

"  My  husband  is  John  Alden,  lieutenant  of  the  colony's 
forces,  and  second  in  command  to  Captain  Standish." 

"  My  service  to  you,  Lieutenant  Alden,  and  I  crave 
your  pardon  for  what  may  have  seemed  surly  silence 
under  your  first  advances  ;  but  truth  to  tell,  I  am  a  lit 
tle  overborne  with  fatigue  and  annoyance  "  — 

"  Indeed,  sir,  you  are  fit  to  drop,"  broke  in  Priscilla 
indignantly.  "  Here,  sit  you  down  in  the  roundabout 
chair,  and  say  not  a  word  more  till  I  fetch  you  a  cup  of 
cordial-waters.  John,  do  get  rid  of  these  Indians.  I 
hate  the  sight  of  them  !  Let  them  go  wait  at  Master 
Hopkins's  until  the  governor  comes  home  to  take  order 
with  them  "  — 

But  at  this  moment,  and  while  Priscilla,  half  filling  a 
small  silver  cup  with  Hollands  gin  slightly  tempered 
with  water,  held  it  to  the  lips  of  the  fainting  man,  the 
door  suddenly  opened,  and  Bradford,  followed  by  Stan- 
dish  and  Hobomoc,  entered  the  room. 

"  My  wife  and  Christian  Penn  sent  me  up  to  ask 
about  —  ah  yes  —  why  —  Captain,  this  gentleman  is  — 
Your  name,  good  sir  ?  " 

"  My  name  is  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner,"  replied  the 
captive,  rallying  his  strength  to  reply  with  dignity. 
"  And  as  you  seem  to  recall,  we  met  once  before  at  my 


SIR  CHRISTOPHER  ENJOYS  THE  CHASE.     143 

poor  home  in  the  Massachusetts.  Well  enough  I  know 
that  my  hospitality  then  was  not  such  as  befits  either 
your  quality  or  mine,  and  yet  methinks  your  response 
is  even  less  courteous." 

"  We  knew  not  who  the  fugitive  might  be  of  whom 
the  Indians  told  us,"  returned  Bradford  gravely.  "  But 
evil  entreated  though  you  seem  to  have  been,  your  case 
would  have  been  even  worse  had  it  not  been  for  us." 

"  They  went  about  to  kill  you,  man,"  broke  in  Stan- 
dish  bluntly.  "  And  if  the  hound  the  Bay  Colony  laid 
upon  your  track  had  not  fallen  in  with  one  of  our  own 
Indians,  you  had  long  since  tumbled  across  your  own 
camp-fire,  with  an  arrow  through  your  heart." 

"  Say  you  so,  Captain,"  replied  Gardiner  faintly. 
"  'T  is  but  another  proof  that  a  man  seldom  knows  his 
best  friends  ;  but  why  do  the  Bay  people  seek  my  life  ?  " 

"  That  is  best  known  to  yourself,  sir,"  began  Bradford 
somewhat  severely ;  but  Priscilla  Alden  interposed,  — 

"  I  pray  your  pardon,  Master  Bradford,  but  this  man 
needs  care  and  tendance  rather  than  catechizing  just 
now.  Look  but  at  those  arms  and  hands  !  " 

"Ay,  look!"  exclaimed  Gardiner,  holding  up  his 
arms,  yet  forced  at  once  to  drop  them  through  pain. 

Bradford  and  Standish  stared  in  amazement,  for 
through  the  tattered  and  stripped  sleeves  of  the  knight's 
doublet  and  fine  Hollands  shirt  could  be  seen  many  and 
cruel  weals  as  of  stripes,  some  of  them  still  bleeding, 
others  crusted  with  dry  blood,  and  others  lividly  bruised. 
The  hands  were  in  even  yet  more  pitiable  case,  discol 
ored,  swollen,  and  cut  so  that  they  hardly  looked  like 
hands  at  all. 

"  What  is  this  ?  What  has  chanced  to  your  hands  and 
arms,  sir  ?  "  demanded  the  governor. 


144  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Ask  those  red  devils  there,"  replied  Sir  Christopher 
bitterly.  "  And  let  me  ask  if  it  was  not  done  by  your 
own  orders." 

"  By  my  orders  !  Never,  so  help  me  God  !  "  cried 
Bradford ;  and  then  turning  upon  the  Indians  he  de 
manded,  — 

"  Is  this  your  work,  Weetonawah,  or  is  it  the  Shaw- 
mut's  ?  Did  I  not  warn  you  both  to  bring  in  the  man 
with  all  care  and  humane  tenderness  ?  " 

The  Indians  looked  at  each  other,  drew  their  skin 
mantles  closer  about  them  as  if  in  assertion  of  their 
own  dignity,  and  finally  uttered  a  few  words  which 
Standish  as  briefly  translated  :  — 

"  They  say  they  did  but  a  little  whip  him  with  sticks, 
and  it  is  no  harm." 

"  But  why  did  they  whip  him,  little  or  much  ?  " 

"  My  faith !  they  could  never  have  taken  me  alive, 
had  not  they  beat  my  last  weapon  out  of  my  hands," 
broke  in  the  knight.  "  When  they  are  gone  and  I  am 
a  little  refreshed  I  will  tell  you  the  whole  story,  gentle 
men  ;  but  if  you  indeed  wish  me  well,  drive  away  these 
assassins  and  leave  me  to  this  comely  matron's  tendance 
for  a  while,  at  least." 

"  'T  is  well  spoken,"  replied  the  governor  in  his 
usual  placable  voice.  "  John  Alden,  will  it  suit  you  to 
keep  this  man  over-night,  if  no  longer,  and  will  you, 
Priscilla,  give  him  the  care  he  needs  and  you  so  well 
understand  ?  " 

"  If  the  goodwife  says  yes,  I  '11  not  say  no,"  declared 
Alden  ;  and  Priscilla  added  a  little  sharply,  — 

"  'T  is  the  best  word  said  yet." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AND   DESCRIBES   IT. 

NOT  until  the  next  afternoon  did  Priscilla  Alden 
allow  her  husband  to  report  the  patient  ready  to  receive 
the  visitors  who  awaited  her  summons,  but  when  the 
governor,  the  captain,  the  Elder,  and  the  doctor  were 
finally  admitted  they  found  him  a  very  different  looking 
person  from  the  captive  driven  into  town  by  the  Indians, 
who  had  already  been  paid  their  reward  and  dismissed. 

Like  most  of  the  colonists,  John  Alden  had  enlarged 
his  house  from  the  rude  shelter  of  the  earliest  years  to 
a  dwelling  suited  to  a  growing  and  thrifty  family,  so 
that  at  the  other  side  of  the  door  opening  into  the  great 
cheerful  kitchen  with  its  southern  and  eastern  windows 
lay  a  new  room,  more  carefully  finished  than  the  first, 
its  floor  nearly  covered  with  rugs  of  Priscilla's  own 
manufacture,  its  fireplace  decorated  with  Dutch  tiles,  its 
woodwork  painted,  and  its  casement  window  set  with 
real  glass  in  leaden  bands,  instead  of  the  oiled  paper  or 
linen  which  sufficed  for  the  kitchen  windows. 

Here  were  collected  the  few  pieces  of  furniture  which 
William  Molines  and  his  wife  had  managed  to  bring 
over  from  France,  Holland,  and  England,  the  three 
homes  of  their  years  before  the  Pilgrimage.  The  deep 
and  wide  carved  chest  of  black  oak,  with  cunningly 
wrought  hinges  and  a  key  nearly  as  large  as  that  of 
the  Bastile,  stood  on  one  side  of  the  fireplace,  its  depths 


146  BETTY  ALDEN. 

well  stored  with  damask  and  napery,  bed  linen  and  win 
dow  curtains,  some  of  Priscilla's  own  spinning  and 
some  of  her  mother's,  while  certain  articles  of  fine 
damask  wrought  upon  looms  of  Flanders,  and  bought 
even  there  at  a  great  price,  were  hereditary  treasures. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  fireplace  stood  a  "  buffet," 
of  English  make  and  quaintly  carved  with  heads  of 
beasts  and  gaping  gargoyles  which  were  the  terror  of 
Betty  and  her  brothers  on  the  rare  occasions  when  they 
were  allowed  to  penetrate  the  solemn  solitudes  of  this 
state  apartment.  This  buffet  was  not  as  well  supplied 
as  that  of  the  governor's  wife,  and  boasted  no  Venetian 
glass,  although  there  were  four  plain  glass  tumblers,  or 
rummers,  as  they  were  then  called,  and  a  few  pieces  of 
Delft  ware  with  a  china  bowl  so  precious  that  Priscilla 
seldom  dared  to  look  at  it.  Around  the  neck  of  one  of 
the  gargoyles  projecting  from  the  cornice  of  the  buffet 
hung  a  string  of  curious  Indian,  or  rather  Ceylonese 
beads,  each  carved  into  semblance  of  an  idol's  head,  a 
fact  happily  unguessed  by  their  owners,  or  indeed  by 
Plymouth,  which  would  have  demanded  an  auto-da-fe'  of 
them  in  the  town  square  ;  but  by  some  unconscious  cere 
bration  Priscilla  had  decorated  the  other  gargoyle  with 
a  string  of  wampum,  thus  balancing  the  superstition  of 
oldest  eastern  idolatry  with  that  of  newest,  or  rather 
latest  discovered,  western.  Later  on,  this  string  of  wam 
pum  became  quite  an  appreciable  bit  of  property,  but  at 
present  it  was  scarcely  more  than  a  curiosity;  for  al 
though  it  had  been  recommended  to  the  Pilgrims  some 
four  years  previous  to  this  date  by  Isaac  de  Razieres,  the 
delightful  Dutchman  who  visited  Plymouth  with  over 
tures  of  friendship  and  menace  from  New  Amsterdam, 
it  had  not  as  yet  become  the  circulating  medium  it  did 


AND  DESCRIBES  IT.  147 

later,  since  both  the  New  England  Indians  and  the  New 
England  colonists  had  to  be  educated  to  its  use,  —  a 
use  invented  by  those  unhappy  Pequots  and  Narragan- 
setts  upon  whose  shore  the  quahaug  shells  were  found 
in  perfection.  The  thrifty  Dutchman  in  his  visit  to 
Plymouth  had  brought  a  quantity  of  wampum  for  sale, 
and  the  Pilgrims,  after  listening  to  his  account  of  its 
uses  and  value,  invested  fifty  pounds  with  him  at  the 
rate  of  a  penny  for  three  bits  of  the  blue,  or  six  of  the 
white  shell,  this  price  bringing  the  blue  pieces  nearly  to 
the  value  of  a  cent  of  our  currency. 

But  we  must  linger  no  longer  over  the  description  of 
Priscilla's  "  withdrawing  "  room,  as  it  might  very  liter 
ally  be  called,  but  stand  aside  to  allow  the  Fathers  of 
Plymouth  to  enter  and  find  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner 
seated  in  an  invalid-chair  beside  the  fire,  writing  in  a 
little  pocket-book  which  at  their  entrance  he  closed  and 
hid  in  his  breast. 

Grave  salutations  passed,  the  guests  were  seated,  and 
Alden,  who  had  ushered  them  in,  would  have  left  the 
room,  but  was  bidden  to  remain  by  the  governor,  while 
Standish  with  one  of  his  rare  smiles  added,  — 

"  I  can  answer  for  my  friend  John's  discretion  as  for 
mine  own."  At  which  pleasant  word  the  giant  looked 
foolishly  glad,  for  it  was  the  most  friendly  speech  Stan- 
dish  had  vouchsafed  since  the  night  when  Aid  en's  ill- 
timed  slumbers  had  so  nearly  dishonored  his  captain. 

"  And  now,  sir,"  began  Bradford  in  a  tone  finely 
mingled  of  magisterial  authority  and  benevolent  hos 
pitality,  "if  you  are  sufficiently  recovered  from  the 
hardships  of  your  journey  hither,  we  should  be  glad  to 
hear  some  account  of  your  coming  into  such  straits,  and 
especially  of  what  complaint  the  rulers  of  the  Bay 
Colony  may  have  against  you." 


148  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  A  truly  reasonable  inquiry,  Master  Governor,  and 
one  which  I  shall  find  joyful  content  in  gratifying," 
replied  the  knight,  assuming  an  easier  position,  and 
stretching  his  shapely  legs,  clad  in  a  pair  of  John 
Alden's  best  hose,  toward  the  fire.  The  action  attracted 
Bradford's  notice,  and,  with  Pris  Carpenter's  fancies  in 
his  mind,  he  scrutinized  his  guest  with  more  attention 
than  men  generally  bestow  upon  one  another's  personal 
appearance. 

Tall,  dark,  with  a  hawk's  eyes,  and  an  eagle's  nose 
above  an  enormous  mustache,  which  could  not,  however, 
conceal  a  riotous  and  sensual  mouth,  with  dark  floating 
hair  now  carefully  dressed,  and  a  smooth-shaven  cleft 
chin  telling  of  both  will  and  courage,  the  knight  was 
beyond  controversy  a  handsome  man  in  spite  of  his  forty 
or  fifty  years,  and  one  well  suited  to  turn  the  brain  of 
a  romantic  girl.  His  expression  of  reckless  and  jeering 
self-assertion,  thinly  veiled  under  a  mask  of  deference 
and  deprecation,  was  less  propitious  than  his  features, 
but  as  Bradford  shrewdly  told  himself  was  by  no  means 
the  expression  he  would  wear  in  conversation  with  a 
young  maiden  whom  he  wished  to  please. 

"Yes,  I  shall  be  most  happy,  most  content,  to  tell 
you  whatever  in  your  opinion,  sir,  it  imports  you  to  know 
of  my  poor  history,"  pursued  Sir  Christopher  in  a 
vague  fashion,  as  if  inwardly  employed  in  concocting  a 
romance  to  serve  instead  of  the  truth.  "  But  I  know  not 
well  where  to  begin.  Shall  I  tell  you  that  my  father  is 
a  wealthy  gentleman  of  Gloucester  in  England,  and  is, 
or  was,  poor  man,  nephew  of  that  Bishop  Gardiner,  Lord 
of  the  see  of  Winchester,  who  did  God  service  under 
Queen  Mary"  — 

"  Peace,  ribald  !  "  broke  in  the  stern  voice  of  Elder 


AND  DESCRIBES  IT.  149 

Brewster.  "  If  indeed  you  are  of  kin  to  that  bloody 
persecutor  and  servant  of  a  yet  more  murderous  mis 
tress,  boast  not  of  it  here  among  those  who  have  fled 
into  the  wilderness  to  escape  the  cruelties  of  the  Scarlet 
Woman  and  those  who  serve  her." 

"  Lo  you  now  !  I  do  most  humbly  crave  your  pardon, 
most  worthy  —  nay,  then,  what  do  they  call  men  who 
are  no  priests,  and  yet  take  upon  them  the  priest's  office 
under  John  Calvin  and  his  fellows  ?  " 

"  Sorry  should  I  be  to  seem  discourteous  or  inhospi 
table  to  a  wounded  man,"  exclaimed  Bradford  indig 
nantly,  "but  men  have  been  set  in  the  bilboes  and 
worse  for  less  offense  than  such  words." 

"  Do  I  not  know  it  ?  "  retorted  Gardiner.  "  Did  not 
I,  with  these  eyes,  see  mine  own  friend  Thomas  Morton 
set  in  the  bilboes  and  direfully  insulted  in  yon  village  of 
Boston,  for  less,  — nay,  for  naught  — for  naught  — but 
scaring  a  pack  of  saucy  Indians  by  firing  some  hail-shot 
over  their  heads  to  fright  them  into  bringing  him  a 
canoe  ?  And  did  I  not  see  him,  less  than  two  months 
gone  by,  haled  down  to  the  quay  and  put  by  main  force 
aboard  a  skiff  which  rowed  him  out  to  the  Handmaid,  a 
crank  leaky  old  tub,  not  half  victualed  or  half  found,  and 
no  provision  for  his  comfort,  nay,  for  his  very  life,  but  a 
handful  or  two  of  corn  out  of  his  own  provision,  stolen 
out  of  his  house  at  Merry  Mount  before  it  was  set  afire  ? 
Yes,  sirs,  set  afire  as  the  Handmaid  sailed  out  of  port,  as 
a  taunt  and  a  gibe  to  a  helpless  prisoner  !  Ha,  ha,  though  ! 
That  word  '  helpless  '  minds  me  of  a  merry  joke  even  in 
the  midst  of  such  dolor.  When  our  friends  yonder  had 
got  poor  Morton  into  their  boat,  and  rowed  him  to  the 
side  of  the  Handmaid,  —  and  marry,  she  's  much  such  a 
handmaid  as  Hagar  of  the  Bible,  turned  out  into  the 


150  BETTY  ALDEN. 

wilderness  with  neither  meat  nor  water  enough  to  keep 
poor  Ishmael  alive  "  — 

u  Profane  man  !  Do  you  dare  "  —  began  Brewster, 
but  with  an  uplifted  hand  and  deprecatory  bow  the 
knight  interrupted  him  :  — 

'•  Pardon,  your  reverence,  though  't  was  a  most  appo 
site  quotation  and  surely  more  scriptural  than  profane,  — 
but  let  it  pass.  As  I  was  saying,  when  the  boat  reached 
the  Handmaid's  rotund  sides  and  a  rope  was  thrown 
over,  Morton  was  bidden  to  seize  it  and  climb  aboard  ; 
but,  as  he  himself  might  say,  he  put  in  a  demurrer,  and 
represented  that  having  no  business  on  board  the  Hand 
maid  he  hesitated  to  intrude  where  perhaps  he  was  not 
wanted.  The  tipstaves  persisted,  Morton  desisted,  until 
in  the  end  the  rope  was  drawn  up  and  a  noose  let  down 
instead,  wherein  they  netted  him  and  so  hoysed  him  on 
board,  he  laughing  like  a  fiend  at  their  toil  and  rage." 

"  They  should  have  put  the  noose  around  his  neck, 
and  not  hasted  to  pull  him  inboard,"  growled  Standish  ; 
and  Sir  Christopher,  turning  airily  upon  him,  cried,  — 

"  Say  you  so,  Captain  Sh  —  nay,  Captain  Standish  ? 
Well,  and  truly  there  's  little  love  lost  'twixt  you  and 
Morton.  He  had  a  story  that  you  pleaded  hard  for  leave 
to  shoot  him  with  your  own  hand,  when  he  was  down 
here  at  Plymouth  a  prisoner  as  I  am  now." 

"'  I  would  have  been  glad  enough  to  meet  him  man 
to  man,  and  let  him  who  was  the  better  marksman  shoot 
the  other." 

"  And  a  very  pretty  main  it  would  be  between  two 
such  fighting  cocks  as  "  — 

"  Enough  of  this  !  "  exclaimed  the  governor,  silencing 
with  a  gesture  not  only  the  captain,  who  had  sprung  to 
his  feet,  but  the  Elder,  who  with  a  slow  red  mounting  to 


AND  DESCRIBES  IT.  151 

his  cheek  where  it  showed  like  the  color  in  a  hardy  ap 
ple  frozen  and  withered,  yet  clinging  to  the  parent  tree, 
seemed  about  to  speak. 

"Sir  Christopher  Gardiner,  if  that  is  indeed  your 
name  and  degree,  we  men  of  Plymouth  claim  no  titles, 
nor  are  we  courtiers,  skilled  in  cunning  fence  of  word, 
but  we  have  our  own  dignity  as  rulers  of  this  little  com 
monalty,  and  our  self-respect  as  men.  Be  pleased,  there 
fore,  to  lay  aside  all  these  quips  and  cranks,  and  tell  us 
briefly  who  you  are,  and  why  you  are  found  fleeing  from 
the  Bay,  even  at  risk  of  your  life." 

Somewhat  impressed  by  the  simple  dignity  of  Brad 
ford's  manner,  and  perhaps  a  little  ashamed  of  his  own 
levity,  the  knight  at  once  threw  it  off,  sat  more  upright 
in  his  chair,  and  fixing  his  eyes  steadily  upon  Bradford's 
face  as  if  to  avoid  the  challenge  of  Standish's  eager  gaze, 
replied  courteously,  — 

"  I  have  already  told  you,  Sir  Governor,  that  I  am 
Christopher  Gardiner,  son  of  a  worthy  gentleman  of 
Gloucester  in  England.  Early  in  youth  I  wandered 
away  from  home,  and  sojourned  so  many  years  among 
Jews,  Turks,  and  other  infidels,  as  the  Prayer  Book  hath 
it,  that  my  father  disinherited  me  and  gave  my  estates 
to  a  brother  who  clung  to  him  —  and  to  them.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  certain  potentate  whose  name  you  love  not 
made  me  a  Knight  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  a  Cava 
lier  of  the  Milizia  Aureata,  commonly  called  the  Golden 
Melice." 

"  The  Pope  of  Rome  has  no  power  to  appoint  a 
Knight  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre !  "  exclaimed  Brewster, 
recalling  worldly  lore  which  he  had  thought  forgotten. 
Gardiner  bowed  low  and  mockingly. 

"  Pardon  !     No  doubt,  reverend  sir,  you  are  better 


152  BETTY  ALDEN. 

acquainted  with  His  Holiness  than  I  can  be,  but  I  go  on 
with  mine  account  of  myself.  Coming  back  to  England 
after  well-nigh  thirty  years'  absence,  I  find  my  father 
dead,  my  brother  and  his  brood  in  possession,  and 
naught  left  for  the  poor  exile,  should  he  ever  return,  but 
a  beggarly  thousand  crowns  and  a  nook  beside  the  hall- 
fire  so  long  as  he  should  behave  himself  ! 

"  Well,  well,  't  is  not  good  for  me  to  dwell  on  those 
days  ;  so  to  cut  the  matter  short,  I  took  my  thousand 
crowns,  and  a  few  more  that  had  hidden  among  the  tat 
ters  of  my  knightly  robes,  and  came  hither  to  the  New 
World,  hoping  to  escape  from  men  and  the  weariness  of 
their  ways.  I  bought  a  bit  of  land  from  a  copper-col 
ored  gentleman  calling  himself  Chickatawbut  who  pro 
fessed  to  own  it,  and  who  made  much  complaint  that  the 
men  of  Plymouth  had  stolen  from  his  mother's  grave  the 
choice  bearskins  laid  over  it  to  keep  the  good  gentle 
woman  warm  through  the  storms  of  winter  "  — 

"  We  bought  some  bearskins  of  a  native,  but  knew 
not  where  he  got  them,"  said  Bradford  with  an  air  of 
annoyance,  and  Sir  Christopher's  great  mustache  stirred 
in  malicious  glee  at  seeing  that  the  pin-prick  had  reached 
the  quick. 

"  I  bought  my  land,  and  I  built  mine  house,  and  I 
planted  my  garden,  and  I  hired  some  Indian  guides  to 
show  me  the  haunts  of  the  game  and  fish,  and  I  began 
to  live  much  such  an  innocent  and  beneficent  life  as  that 
of  Adam  in  Paradise  "  — 

"  With  yon  fair  lady  as  your  Eve  ? "  demanded 
Standish.  The  knight  turned  his  eyes  upon  him  and 
the  spark  kindled  in  their  depths,  but  again  Bradford 
interposed,  — 

"  Leaving  aside  tropes  and  metaphors,  Sir  Christopher, 


AND  DESCRIBES  IT.  153 

may  we  ask  what  relation  the  gentlewoman  we  found  at 
your  house  sustains  toward  yourself  ?  " 

"  She  is  my  cousin,  my  housekeeper,  my  poor  little 
friend.  Ah,  indeed,  gentlemen,  you  may  leave  her  alone 
with  no  fear  but  she  will  suffer  enough  both  for  her  own 
peccadillos  and  mine,  since  those  gloomy  bigots  of  the 
Bay  have  seized  and  hold  her  close  prisoner,  with  low 
diet,  and  questionings  like  those  of  the  Holy  Office,  day 
by  day." 

And  the  man's  voice  took  on  so  genuine  a  tone  of 
pain  and  fear  as  he  thought  upon  his  helpless  compan 
ion  that  even  Brewster  forbore  to  press  the  subject  fur 
ther,  and  Bradford  not  unkindly  inquired,  — 

"  And  why  didst  thou  flee  from  this  poor  paradise  of 
thine  ?  " 

''I  heard'  by  my  friendly  Indians,  the  same  who 
afterward  told  me  that  Mary  was  a  prisoner,  that  there 
was  mischief  plotting  against  me  in  the  council  chamber 
at  Boston,  and  one  fine  morning  when  I  saw  a  boat  filled 
with  tipstaves  and  bum-bailiffs  crossing  the  river  half  a 
mile  or  so  from  my  house  "  — 

"Neponset  the  Indians  call  it,"  murmured  John 
Alden  ;  and  Gardiner  nodded  good-humoredly. 

*'  Ay,  so  they  do,  yet  at  that  moment  I  tarried  not  to 
discover  if  Winthrop's  men  had  learned  its  name  as  well 
as  its  navigation,  but,  throwing  my  shot-pouch  and  pow 
der-flask  around  my  neck,  thrusting  my  compass  into  one 
pocket  and  a  full  flask  into  the  other,  I  bade  my  poor 
little  cousin  good-by,  and  well  armed,  as  you  may  be 
assured,  I  plunged  into  the  forest,  and  set  out  for  the 
New  Netherlands,  some  sixty  or  seventy  leagues  to  the 
southwest  of  Boston  Bay." 

"  They  thought  you  would  try  to  reach  Piscataqua, 


154  BETTY  ALDEN. 

where  Hilton  and  others  are  seated.  Church  of  England 
men,  they,  and  more  of  your  own  fashion." 

"  Why,  of  course  they  so  thought,  Master  Governor, 
and  that  is  why  I  went  not  thither  ;  nor  did  I  seek  to 
come  here  because  I  felt  myself  in  need  of  some  air  less 
pure  and  less  attenuate  than  that  which  circles  round  a 
conventicle ;  I  pined  for  the  company  of  ordinary  mor 
tals  like  myself." 

"  You  hardly  reached  the  New  Netherlands,  how 
ever,"  suggested  Bradford  dryly. 

"  No.  I  fell  sick  the  first  night,  from  sleeping  on  the 
bare  ground  in  a  pitiless  storm  of  rain  and  sleet,  and  I 
rested  for  a  day  or  so  with  some  natives  whom  I  knew. 
Besides,  had  they  much  harmed  her  I  left  behind,  I 
would  have  gone  back  and  revenged  her  by  at  least  John 
Winthrop's  life." 

"  Come,  now,  that 's  spoken  man  fashion  !  "  exclaimed 
Standish,  and  the  two  soldiers  exchanged  an  almost 
friendly" glance  and  smile.  But  the  smile  quickly  faded 
from  the  knight's  face  as  his  thoughts  went  back  to  his 
terrible  experience  in  the  wilderness,  and  resting  his 
elbow  on  his  knee,  with  his  chin  in  the  cup  of  his  hand, 
he  stared  gloomily  into  the  fire,  and  went  on :  — 

"  I  heard  once  and  again  from  Boston,  and  I  sent  a 
token  to  my  poor  girl,  bidding  my  messenger  lie,  and 
say  that  I  was  safe  and  well ;  then  I  went  on,  and 
wandered  for  days,  nay,  for  weeks,  up  and  down,  hither 
and  yon,  fevered,  wounded,  helpless,  yet  unbroken.  I 
met  natives  who  told  me  of  a  great  river  in  the  Pequod 
country,  —  Canaughticott  they  called  it ;  but  I  could  not 
cross  it  save  by  the  favor  of  those  savages,  the  most 
bloody  and  the  most  implacable  of  any  in  the  country, 
and  I  saw  it  would  be  but  madness  to  attempt  it.  Then 


AND  DESCRIBES  IT.  155 

I  was  minded  to  linger  about  in  the  forest  until  sum 
mer,  when  I  might  make  my  way  north  to  Piscataqua, 
or  perhaps  ship  aboard  some  vessel  bound  to  the  New 
Netherlands,  or  even  come  hither  and  ask  shelter,  — 
in  very  truth  I  knew  not  what  I  would  be  at,  for  every 
way  seemed  barred,  and  I  was  too  dazed  and  fevered 
much  of  the  time  to  concoct  a  plan  beyond  the  next 
meal,  or  the  next  lodging.  At  last  the  Massachusetts 
runner  who  had  dogged  the  path  to  Piscataqua  for  two 
or  three  weeks  tried  another  trail  and  came  upon  me. 
I  since  hear  that  he  would  have  murthered  me  but  for 
your  influence,  and  I  am  beholden  to  you,  one  and  all ; 
for,  sad  as  is  my  plight,  I  am  not  yet  ready  to  make 
venture  of  a  country  even  stranger  to  me  than  New 
England.  But  since  the  Bay  had  set  a  reward  upon  my 
head  it  might  not  safely  rest  even  upon  the  dank  leaves 
of  the  forest ;  and  two  days  ago,  while  Samson  so  slept, 
the  Philistines  came  upon  him  ;  that  is  to  say,  I  wakened 
suddenly  with  a  most  uncomely  savage  bending  over  me, 
and  trying  to  steal  my  snaphance  which  I  hugged  close 
to  my  breast.  Alive  in  a  moment,  I  sprang  to  my  feet, 
dashed  my  fist  into  the  fellow's  mouth  and  heard  his 
teeth  split  off  like  icicles,  even  as  I  sprang  for  the  other 
side  of  the  thicket  to  make  ready  to  shoot  him.  Now 
beyond  that  thicket  lay  a  stream  whose  name  I  know 
not,  but  broader  than  the  Thames  at  London  "  — 

"  Taunton  River,  we  have  named  it,"  again  suggested 
Alden. 

"  Ay  ?  Well,  there  lay  a  canoe  pulled  up  on  the  bank, 
with  the  paddles  in  it.  To  seize  that  canoe  and  pad 
dle  across  the  river  was  my  game,  and  haply  so  reach 
the  New  Netherlands  ;  but  as  I  put  my  shoulder  to 
the  bows  the  enemy  fell  upon  me,  a  half  dozen  at  least 


156  BETTY  ALDEN. 

of  hellish  whooping  savages  with  all  their  murderous 
motives  uppermost.  With  one  mighty  heave  I  pushed 
off  and  sprang  in,  at  the  same  moment  presenting  my 
piece  now  at  this,  now  at  that  one  of  the  savages. 
Well  I  knew  that  any  one  of  them  might  hide  behind  a 
tree  and  pick  me  off  with  an  arrow,  and  I  found  time  to 
marvel  that  they  did  not,  for  how  was  I  to  know  that 
they  had  been  ordered  to  take  me  alive  and  unharmed  ? 
but  even  as  the  canoe  felt  the  stream  and  swerved  away 
from  the  shore,  even  as  a  delusive  hope  of  escape  danced 
before  my  eyes,  the  stern  of  the  tittlish  craft  ran  upon 
a  rock,  and  presto !  I  was  in  the  water,  and  what  is 
worse,  my  piece  and  my  rapier  were  at  the  bottom  of 
the  stream !  I  stooped  to  grope  for  the  good  blade,  but 
it  lay  too  deep,  and  as  I  rose  they  were  upon  me,  yell 
ing  like  fiends.  One  weapon  remained,  my  little  dag 
ger  of  Venice,  which  I  would  not  have  lost  for  a  gold 
piece,  sith  it  is  a  dagger  of  happy  memories  and  hath 
carved  me  many  a  puzzling  knot,  even  as  the  great 
Alexander  untied  the  Gordian  knot  with  his  own  good 
blade  "  — 

"  Your  dagger  is  safe,  and  shall  be  restored.  I 
pr'ythee  get  on,"  remonstrated  Bradford. 

"  Sir,  your  impatience  is  flattering  to  my  poor  powers 
of  narration,  and  sooth  to  say,  I  found  myself  much  in 
terested  in  the  story  as  it  went  on.  Well,  I  drew  the  dag 
ger  and  I  shook  it  in  their  faces  after  a  most  terrible  fash 
ion,  and  I  swore  most  roundly  that  the  first  man  who 
came  within  reach  should  taste  its  point ;  and  so  fear 
ful  and  so  truthful  was  my  mien  that  they  slunk  back, 
and  I  even  began  to  cast  lightning  glances  toward  the 
canoe  as  it  lay  stranded  not  many  feet  away,  when  some 
direct  emissary  of  Satan  whispered  a  plan  to  those  imps 


AND  DESCRIBES  IT.  157 

of  the  same  master,  and  two  of  them,  retiring  to  the 
bushes,  cut  half  a  dozen  or  so  of  long  poles  and  stripped 
them  of  their  leaves  and  little  shoots ;  then  each  man 
seizing  one,  they  began  to  try  to  knock  the  dagger  out 
of  my  hands,  and  as  I  swiftly  changed  it  from  side  to 
side,  and  turned  every  way  to  shelter  it,  their  dastardly 
blows  rained  down  upon  my  hands  and  arms  until  the 
sleeves  were  cut  to  tatters  and  the  skin  beneath  to  rib 
bons  of  most  unseemly  hue.  I  held  on  so  long  as  a 
man's  will  may  conquer  flesh  and  blood,  for  I  fancied 
that,  knowing  me  to  be  a  man  of  some  daring  and  endur 
ance  they  fain  would  take  me  alive  to  test  my  courage 
under  torture,  and  I  had  liever  provoke  them  to  kill  me 
then  and  there  ;  but  in  the  end,  when  the  dagger  was 
beaten  out  of  my  numb  and  swollen  fingers,  they  closed 
in  upon  me  like  foul  wolves  upon  a  wounded  stag,  arid 
all  was  over. 

"  They  bound  my  arms,  as  Master  Alden  can  tell 
you,  most  cruelly,  and  so  soon  as  themselves  were  re 
freshed  —  although  not  so  much  as  a  drop  of  water  gave 
they  me  until  at  night  I  managed  to  drink  from  a  pool 
where  we  lay  for  a  few  hours  —  they  set  off  for  Ply 
mouth  ;  and  the  rest  you  know." 

"  And  the  man  is  over-weary  for  safety.  'T  is  best  to 
leave  him  to  rest,  and  to  Mistress  Alden's  ministrations." 

So  spake  Samuel  Fuller,  the  kindly  surgeon  and  phy 
sician  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  and  Bradford  cordially  replied,  — 

"  Yes  and  indeed,  Doctor.  Sir  Christopher,  we  do 
not  make  you  any  answer  just  now,  except  that  we  are 
beholden  to  you  for  your  courteous  reply  to  our  inquiries, 
and  we  will  now  leave  you  to  repose.  To-morrow  we 
shall  know  better  what  to  reply.  We  wish  you  good- 
e'en." 


158  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Good-evening,  Sir  Governor,  and  each  of  you  gentle 
men.  Captain  Standish,  it  would  please  me  much  if 
by  and  by  you  would  waste  an  hour  in  talk  with  me  of 
the  stirring  adventures  we  both  have  known  in  those 
realms  of  heathenesse  beyond  the  seas." 

"  It  will  give  me  singular  pleasure  so  to  do,  Sir  Chris 
topher,"  replied  Standish  ;  and  so  in  amity  and  sympa 
thy  parted  two  men  who  with  equal  pleasure  would 
have  fought  hand  to  hand  until  one  lay  dead  upon  the 
field,  or,  as  they  that  evening  did,  over  a  tankard  of 
strong  ale,  rehearsed  for  each  other's  benefit  their  bat 
tles  of  old  time. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A   MILLSTONE    FOR    SIR    CHRISTOPHER. 

"  HERE,  Betty  woman  !  You  shall  help  mother  and 
carry  the  strange  gentleman's  breakfast  to  him.  I  'm 
too  put  about  with  my  baking  to  redd  myself  fit  to  see 
him.  Put  a  clean  towel  over  the  sarver,  set  the  salt 
and  pepper  pot  upon  it,  and  take  father's  beer-mug  to 
fill  him  out  a  measure  of  my  oldest  home-brewed.  He 
said  but  yesterday  he  loved  a  cool  tankard  better  than 
strong  waters  of  a  morning." 

"  Shall  I  take  one  of  the  real  damask  napkins  for  him, 
mother  ?  There  are  two  in  the  drawer  of  the  dresser 
newly  laundered." 

"  Yes.  Give  him  of  the  best,  poor  fellow,  while  he  's 
with  us,  for  he  goes  from  us  to  prison,  and  mayhap  to 
worse." 

"  What  worse,  mother  ?  "  demanded  Betty,  pausing 
as  she  shook  out  the  folds  of  the  Antwerp  damask  nap 
kin,  and  turning  her  face  toward  her  mother,  whose 
quick  eye  marked  its  sudden  pallor. 

"  Pho,  child  !  I  did  but  shoot  at  random  ;  there  's  no 
harm  coming  to  the  man  that  I  know  of.  Here,  now, 
here  's  the  little  bird  done  to  a  turn,  and  some  manchets 
of  wheat  bread,  and  a  cup  of  honey,  and  the  tankard. 
That 's  enough  for  any  man's  breakfast,  be  he  sick  or 
well.  What 's  that,  now  ?  " 

"  Just  a  bit  of  mayflower,  mother,  that  I  found  yes 
terday  in  the  nook  south  the  hill,  you  know." 


160  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"Yes,  yes,  but  —  well,  have  thine  own  way,  poppet, 
—  thou  'rt  a  good  child." 

And  the  tray,  decorated  with  a  little  silver  cup  hold 
ing  the  two  or  three  reckless  sprigs  of  epigaea,  which  had 
ventured  before  their  time  into  a  world  not  yet  ready  for 
them,  was  carried  into  the  fore-room,  where  Sir  Chris 
topher  stood  at  the  window  impatiently  considering  his 
swollen  and  discolored  hands  from  which  he  had  re 
moved  the  bandages. 

Before  we  attend  to  him,  however,  let  us  here  note 
that  the  Epigcea  repens  still  blooms  in  Plymouth  so 
early,  that  by  May-day  it  is  gone;  and  it  is  not,  and 
never  was,  and  never  will  be  an  arbutus,  although  a 
world  which  chooses  to  say  "  commence "  instead  of 
"  begin,"  and  "  locate  "  instead  of  "  build,"  insists  upon 
calling  it  so,  and  probably  will  so  insist  as  long  as  time 
endures. 

"  Ah !  Good  -  morrow,  little  maid  !  "  exclaimed  the 
knight,  a  smile  replacing  the  scowl  of  vexation.  "I 
have  not  seen  you  before.  Are  you  Master  Alden's 
daughter  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Betty,  placing  her  tray  upon  the 
table,  and  then  turning  to  make  her  little  curtsy,  for 
Betty  knew  her  manners  as  well  as  any  young  gentle 
woman  alive.  "  Mother  was  over-busy  this  morning  to 
attend  you,  and  so  sent  me  with  your  breakfast." 

"  And  a  right  tempting  breakfast,  too  ! "  declared 
Gardiner,  seizing  the  pewter  beer-mug  and  half  empty 
ing  it  at  a  draught.  "  Ha !  't  is  good  !  A  right  hon 
est  strike  of  malt !  "  added  he,  carefully  wiping  his  long 
mustachios  and  smiling  upon  Betty,  who  stood  solemnly 
regarding  him.  "  And  a  posy,  too  !  A  posy  that  looks 
marvelously  like  thyself,  child,  so  sweet  and  tender,  yet 


A  MILLSTONE  FOB  SIB  CHRISTOPHER.    161 

blossoming  from  out  austere  and  rigid  foliage.  What 
is  thy  name,  little  one  ?  " 

"  Elizabeth  Alden,  sir  ;  but  I  'm  mostly  called  Betty." 

"  Ay,  then,  this  flower  is  the  Bettina,  or  the  Betty- 
belle,  or  the  Bettissimo,  is  it  not  ?  " 

"  Nay,  sir  ;  we  call  it  mayflower,  because  father  says 
it  minds  him  of  the  English  may  that  blooms  in  the 
hedges  where  he  was  born.  But  the  doctor,  who  is  won 
drous  wise  about  herbs,  will  still  give  it  some  hard  name 
I  cannot  remember.  He  knows  botany,  the  doctor  does." 

"  Ay,  does  he  ?  Well,  I  would  he  knew  a  way  to 
make  •me  a  well  man  and  a  free  one."  And  the  knight, 
hastily  pushing  aside  his  half-eaten  breakfast,  began  to 
pace  up  and  down  the  room  in  restless  anger  and  im 
patience.  Betty,  halfway  to  the  door,  stopped  and 
regarded  him  pitifully,  then  timidly  said,  — 

"  I  would  I  could  help  you,  sir.  Shall  I  bring  my 
kitten  to  see  you  ?  or  mayhap  you  'd  like  Shakem 
better  ?  " 

"  And  what  is  Shakem,  thou  pretty  child  ?  " 

"  He  's  father's  little  dog  that  catches  rats  and  shakes 
them  so  merrily,  and  he  knows  tricks,  too :  he  '11  stand 
up  and  beg,  and  he  '11  catch  the  bits  on  his  nose,  and 
he  '11  play  at  being  dead  "  — 

"  Nay,  then,  Betty,  he  's  not  for  me  !  I  need  no  mimic 
deaths  to  mind  me  of  mine  own.  Ohe' !  " 

"  Is  that  the  '  worse '  that  mother  meant  ?  Oh,  I  'in 
so  sorry,  sir !  " 

"  Worse  that  thy  mother  meant  ?  Now  what 's  that 
riddle,  child  ?  " 

"  Mayhap  I  should  not  have  told  it  again  ;  but  mother 
made  the  manchets  and  broiled  the  bird,  while  we  had 
but  bean  soup  and  coarse  bread  for  breakfast,  because 


162  BETTY  ALDEN. 

she  said  you  'd  go  from  here  to  prison  and  it  might 
be  to  worse." 

"  Said  she  so  ?  Ha  !  is  it  resolved  upon,  then  ?  But 
no,  no,  no !  Winthrop  and  the  rest  would  not  dare, 
especially  with  Gorges  at  my  back.  I  can  make  them 
see  't  would  be  but  self-murther  for  them  to  give  him 
and  the  council  so  excellent  a  weapon  against  them. 
There  's  no  danger,  no  danger  of  death,  but  I  must 
write  to  Sir  Ferdinando  "  — 

"Is  he  at  the  Bay,  sir,  and  will  he  serve  you  if  you 
can  make  him  know  ?  "  asked  Betty  eagerly ;  and  the 
knight,  who  had  forgotten  her,  turned  with  a  sudden 
smile  and  uplifted  eyebrows. 

"  What !  we  're  in  council  together,  are  we,  Betty  ? 
Nay,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  is  in  England,  and  —  Come, 
now,  child,  I  read  thine  honest  eyes,  and  I  know  thou 
'rt  sorry  for  me,  and  would  not  add  to  my  discomfort, 
hadst  thou  the  chance  of  doing  it." 

"  Nay,  sir,  indeed  and  indeed  I  would  not  do  so." 

"  I  am  sure  of  it.  Well,  then,  Betty,  promise  me 
thou  "It  not  say  over  again  what  just  slipped  my  lips, 
and  most  particularly  the  name.  I  '11  be  sworn  thou  hast 
even  now  forgotten  "  — 

"  Nay,  sir,  I  've  not  forgotten  ;  't  is  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  that  would  befriend  you,  but  he  's  in  England 
and  may  not  be  reached,  but  an  the  Bay  does  you  an 
injury  he  '11  revenge  it." 

"  Thou  hast  too  good  a  memory,  Betty,  and  a  won 
derful  quickness  for  thy  years,"  replied  the  knight,  bit 
ing  his  lip,  and  staring  almost  angrily  at  the  child. 
"  Yet  I  must  e'en  trust  thee.  Thou  'It  not  lisp  one 
word  of  that  lesson  thou  hast  so  pat  ?  Mind  you,  child, 
't  was  not  meant  for  your  ears !  " 


A  MILLSTONE  FOR  SIR  CHRISTOPHER.    163 

"  I  '11  not  say  it  over  to  any  one,  sir,  and  I  did  not 
want  to  hear  it."  And  Betty,  with  a  pretty  air  of  dig 
nity,  took  up  the  tray  and  was  leaving  the  room  when 
Sir  Christopher  recalled  her :  — 

"  Betty,  you  're  taking  away  my  posy  !  Was  not  it 
meant  to  tarry  with  the  poor  prisoner,  and  comfort  him 
a  little  ?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,  sir.  Will  you  be  so  gentle  as  to  take 
it  off  the  tray  ?  " 

"  Ay,  and  thank  you,  Betty.  Good-by,  my  pretty 
turnkey." 

"  I  know  not  what  that  is,  sir.  Can  I  bring  you 
aught  else  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Betty.  I  fain  would  have  pens  and  ink  and 
paper,  if  I  may ;  and  will  you  or  some  other  ministering 
sprite  redd  up  the  room  a  little  ?  " 

"  I  '11  ask  mother,  sir,"  replied  Betty  comprehensively, 
and  disappeared,  leaving  Sir  Christopher  plunged  in 
meditation  both  perplexing  and  futile. 

"  I  must  wait  and  see  how  much  they  know  before  I 
frame  my  reply,"  at  length  said  he  aloud  ;  and  throwing 
off  the  weight  with  a  shrug  of  his  broad  shoulders,  he 
took  a  small  dressing-case  from  one  of  the  inner  pock 
ets  of  his  doublet,  and  began  to  comb,  to  perfume,  arid 
to  curl  the  long  dark  hair  which  was  in  itself  an  abom 
ination  to  the  Puritans,  and  an  object  of  scorn  to  the 
Pilgrims. 

"  The  right  mustachio  still  excels  the  left,"  muttered 
he  discontentedly,  as  by  help  of  a  tiny  pocket  mirror  he 
carefully  scrutinized  the  result  of  his  labors,  and  sepa 
rating  the  hairs  of  the  left-hand  mustache  tried  to  give 
it  a  more  formidable  appearance,  although  it  already 
nearly  touched  his  eye  and  covered  his  cheek.  A  gen- 


164  BETTY  ALDEN. 

tie  tap  upon  the  door  disturbed  him,  but  without  inter 
rupting  his  occupation  he  cried,  "  Come  in,"  and  a 
moment  later,  "  Oh,  't  is  my  little  Betty  again !  She 
has  brought  some  paper  and  pens,  and  she  finds  me 
at  my  toilet.  "What  think  you  of  my  lovelocks,  little 
Betty?" 

"  I  never  saw  such  on  a  man  before,  sir." 

"  Nay,  that 's  no  answer,  madam  !  I  asked  how  liked 
you  them." 

"  I  would  like  them  "  — 

"  Well,  say  it  out,  thou  strange  child." 

"  I  would  like  them  on  a  woman  right  well,  sir." 

"  But  not  on  a  man  ?  " 

"  Nay.     Even  Alick  was  shorn  long  since." 

"  And  who  is  Alick,  pr'ythee  ?  " 

"  Alick  Standish,  the  captain's  oldest  son." 

"And  your  little  sweetheart?  " 

"  Nay,  sir,  mother  says  't  is  not  pretty  to  talk  of  such 
things,  though  like  enough  we  '11  marry  when  we  're  old 
enough,  for  our  two  fathers  are  close  friends." 

"  And  how  much  older  must  you  be,  mistress,  ere 
you  may  speak  of  such  things  ?  " 

"  Well,  Susan  Ring  is  no  more  than  fifteen,  and  she 
is  to  marry  Thomas  Clarke  so  soon  as  he  has  William 
Wright's  house  finished,  for  he  's  a  carpenter,  and  Wil 
liam  Wright  would  fain  marry  Prissie  Carpenter,  the 
governor's  wife's  sister  "  — 

"  Ohe' !  I  had  forgotten  !  So,  so,  indeed,  and  so  it 
is  !  Now,  then,  here  is  a  coil !  " 

Betty,  perceiving  that  her  prattle  was  no  longer  heard, 
ceased  abruptly,  and  in  silence  completed  the  spreading 
of  the  bed,  and  dusting  and  arranging  the  furniture  with 
all  the  mature  and  responsible  methods  not  uncommonly 


A  MILLSTONE  FOE  SIE  CHRISTOPHER.    165 

characterizing  the  oldest  daughter  of  a  large  family,  es 
pecially  in  those  early  days.  Suddenly  the  knight  broke 
silence:  — 

"  Betty,  you  know  Mistress  Carpenter  ?  " 

"  Prissie  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir,  I  know  her  very  well.  We  have 
merry  games  of  play  together,  and  I  am  main  fond  of 
her." 

"  Well,  child,  I  also  know  her  a  little,  and  I  too  am 
fond  of  her,  but  that  is  another  of  the  things  you  may 
not  tell  abroad." 

"And  yet  you  have  never  been  here  before,  have 
you,  sir?" 

"  No,  thank  the  Lord,  I  never  have,  nor  shall  I  will 
ingly  come  again,  I  promise  you,  my  Betty  ;  but  being 
here,  I  fain  would  change  a  word  or  two  with  Mistress 
Carpenter,  whom  I  knew  in  England  before  ever  she  or 
I  came  hither." 

"  And  that  will  not  be  hard,  sir,  for  she  often  runs  in 
to  have  a  chat  with  mother,  and  I  will  tell  her  "  — 

"  No,  no,  no,  child,  that  will  never  do  !  "  broke  in  Sir 
Christopher  impatiently.  "  Did  I  not  tell  thee  't  was  a 
secret  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  but  you  would  speak  with  Prissie,  you 
said,"  replied  Betty,  her  eyes  wide  with  wonder  and 
a  growing  instinct  of  wrong-doing.  "  You  had  best  tell 
mother  about  it,  sir." 

"  Nay,  Betty,  I  thought  thou  wert  my  little  friend, 
and  felt  sorry  that  those  cruel  men  at  the  Bay  will  pres 
ently  serve  me  worse  than  they  did  my  friend  Master 
Morton." 

"  He  was  here,  and  I  liked  him  not  at  all.     He  mis- 


166  BETTY  ALDEN. 

called  Alick's  father,  and  mother  would  not  make  jelly 
for  him  though  he  asked  it  of  her." 

"So!  What  a  little  partisan  thou  art,  Betty!  and 
I  '11  venture  thy  mother  is,  too.  But,  Betty,  there  was 
another  man  there  at  Boston,  whom  they  whipped  until 
the  blood  ran  down  to  his  heels,  and  then  they  cut  off 
his  ears,  and  laid  a  hot  iron  on  his  cheek  "  — 

"  Oh,  sir  !  "  And  Gardiner  paused,  startled  at  the 
power  of  expression  developed  in  that  little  flower-face 
by  horror,  and  anger,  and  pity  beyond  its  years.  His 
own  face  softened  to  perhaps  its  best  expression  as,  lay 
ing  a  hand  upon  the  glittering  hair,  he  kindly  said,  — 

"  Nay,  then,  't  is  not  a  tale  for  the  ears  of  a  little 
maid ;  but  thou  'dst  not  like  to  have  me  so  served,  if 
thou  couldst  hinder  ?  " 

"  Oh,  sir,  but  how  can  I  hinder  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  know  not  that  thou  canst,  and  yet  —  the 
first  way  is  to  keep  my  counsel  even  from  thy  mother." 

"  I  always  tell  mother,  and  sometimes  father,  all  I 
do,  but  —  I  will  not  tell  what  can  harm  you,  sir ;  only 
please  tell  me  no  more." 

"  But,  Betty,  dear  little  Betty,  I  was  just  going  to  ask 
you  to  do  me  one  little  kindness,  and  tell  nobody  about 
it.  Won't  you  be  the  friend  of  a  poor  wretch  who  is  to 
be  so  cruelly  used  if  you  do  refuse  to  help  him  ?  " 

"  Indeed  and  indeed,  sir,  I  would  help  you  at  one 
word  if  I  could,  but  I  may  not  tell  a  lie,  even  though  to 
save  you  and  me  too  from  a  den  of  lions." 

"  Daniel,  eh  ?  Well,  little  Daniel,  I  ask  thee  to  tell 
no  lies,  nor  to  do  anything  to  hurt  thy  tender  conscience, 
but  only  to  carry  a  little  folded  bit  of  paper  to  Mistress 
Priscilla  Carpenter,  and  fetch  me  another  which  she  will 
send." 


A  MILLSTONE  FOB  SIB  CHRISTOPHER.    167 

"  Oh,  I  can  do  so  much  as  that,  sir,"  replied  Betty, 
relieved  at  what  seemed  to  her  a  very  harmless  proposi 
tion. 

"  But  you  must  give  her  the  billet  when  she  is  all 
alone,  Betty,  and  you  must  not  let  any  one  —  not  any 
one,  mind  —  know  a  word  about  it  from  first  to  last. 
Can  you  do  that  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes,  easy  enough,  —  but" — and  Betty  pon 
dered,  finger  on  lip ;  then  suddenly  turning  her  brook- 
brown  eyes  upon  the  dark  face  of  the  man  of  the  world, 
she  demanded,  "  Is  it  right  for  me  to  do  it,  sir  ?  Since 
I  may  not  ask  mother  or  father,  you  must  tell  me,  sir, 
is  it  right  ?  " 

Nobody  knows  why  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner  fled  his 
native  land,  nor  why  he  dreaded  to  put  himself  in  reach 
of  its  authorities ;  but  whatever  may  have  been  his 
crimes,  I  believe  none  injured  his  own  soul  more,  none 
at  the  last  day  will  hang  more  like  a  millstone  around 
his  neck,  than  the  offense  he  now  offered  to  the  little  one 
who  made  him  for  the  moment  her  arbiter  of  right  and 
wrong ;  for  he  said,  but  turned  away  from  her  eyes 
while  he  said,  — 

"  Yes,  child,  't  is  right,  and  so  would  your  mother  say 
if  you  could  ask  her  ;  but  she  would  far  liever  you  did 
not,  for  she  would  then  feel  that  she  must  tell  your  fa 
ther,  and  he  the  governor,  and  so  I  should  be  balked  of 
what  will  be  a  comfort  to  me  while  I  am  burned  and 
bleeding  in  the  hangman's  hands  up  yonder." 

"  Oh,  sir  !  oh,  sir  !  The  pity  on  't  —  and  —  and  — 
indeed,  1 11  carry  your  token." 

"  There,  then,  there,  then,  dear  little  maid,  —  don't 
cry  !  I  pr'ythee  don't  cry  !  Come,  now,  I  'U  give  it  up ! 
I  '11  say  no  more  about  it." 


168  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Nay,  sir,  I  '11  do  it,  and  I  '11  not  tell,  and  't  will  be 
a  comfort  to  you  when  —  oh  dear,  oh  dear,  —  but  sith 
you  say  Jt  is  right,  and  mother  would  call  it  right "  — 

"  Nay,  I  '11  not  do  it,  —  and  yet  —  and  yet  "  — 

"  But  why  will  you  not,  sir  ?  'T  is  not  that  I  was 
naughty  and  did  refuse  at  the  first  ?  Sometimes  when 
I  've  been  froward,  father  will  not  let  me  fetch  his  pipe 
or  his  dry  slippers,  and  says,  '  Thank  you,  Elizabeth,  but 
I  '11  serve  myself,'  and  I  'd  rather  he  'd  beat  me,  or  scold, 
as  mother  will." 

"  My  child,  I  'm  not  vexed,  and  —  well,  there  — 
wait  a  bit  —  now,  here  it  is,  just  these  half  dozen  lines 
thou  seest,  Betty  ;  surely  there  's  no  harm  in  such  a 
scrap  of  paper,  is  there,  child  ?  " 

"  You  say  not,  sir,"  replied  Betty  submissively,  yet 
sadly,  for  she  liked  not  her  errand,  although  resting  in 
the  confidence  of  a  nature  itself  upright,  upon  the  assur 
ance  of  her  elder  that  she  was  doing  right  in  obeying 
him. 

At  dinner  time,  with  the  tray  came  Betty,  again  with 
an  apology  from  her  mother  ;  and  when  she  had  set  it 
down  she  took  a  scrap  of  paper  from  her  bosom  and 
handed  it  to  the  knight,  who,  impatiently  unfolding  it, 
read  in  a  very  rude  and  Gothic  scrawl  the  two  words,  — 

"Ask  Betty.  PRISCILLA  CARPENTER." 

"  *  Ask  Betty,'  repeated  the  knight  aloud.  "  That  is  all 
there  is  in  it,  Betty.  But  what  is  the  message  that  I 
am  to  ask  ?  " 

"Prissie  cannot  write  much,  but  she  made  shift  to 
read  your  billet,  and  she  sends  her  love  and  kind  remem 
brance,"  repeated  the  child  glibly.  "  And  she  said  if 
you  got  leave  to  walk  out,  and  I  went  with  you,  we 
should  go  to  look  for  the  mayflowers  just  below  the 


A  MILLSTONE  FOR  SIB  CHRISTOPHER.    169 

Fort  Hill,  down  near  the  palisades,  and  mayhap  she 
would  be  there  about  three  hours  after  noon.  And  if 
you  cannot  go  to  walk,  or  father  goes  with  you,  she  will 
pass  by  this  window  while  they  are  at  lecture  in  the 
Fort,  but  it  would  be  no  more  than  to  say  good-by." 

"  Now  that  goes  almost  too  well  to  be  true,  little 
Betty  !  "  exclaimed  the  knight,  rubbing  his  hands,  and 
wincing  as  he  did  so,  for  they  were  not  yet  healed,  while 
Betty,  sadly  changed  from  the  careless  and  merry  little 
maid  of  the  morning  hours,  withdrew  without  a  word. 

After  dinner,  as  he  had  expected,  Sir  Christopher  re 
ceived  a  visit  from  his  host,  who  told  him  that  the  gov 
ernor  still  awaited  a  reply  to  the  letter  he  had  sent  by 
Indian  runners  to  Governor  Winthrop  at  the  Bay,  and 
that  meanwhile  Sir  Christopher  was  to  rest  content 
where  he  was,  or,  if  it  better  suited  him,  to  walk  about 
the  town. 

"  That  proposal  jumps  well  with  mine  own  fancies," 
replied  Gardiner  smilingly.  "  Your  little  daughter 
brought  me  these  posies  this  morning,  and  told  me  of 
how  and  where  they  grow,  and  I  should  well  like  to 
study  them  in  their  habitat.  I  cherish  a  singular  love 
for  herbal  lore,  and  have  the  theories  of  Fuchsius  and 
Bauhin  at  my  fingers'  ends." 

"You  should  talk  with  our  doctor,  then,"  replied 
Alden.  "  He  is  marvelously  learned  in  all  such  matters, 
and  can  pluck  you  to  pieces  the  prettiest  posy  that  grows, 
and  break  your  head  with  the  learned  names  he  11  find 
in  it." 

"  Ay,  I  doubt  not,"  returned  Gardiner  coldly.  "  But 
in  my  captivity  I  better  love  the  company  of  a  prattling 
child  than  of  a  man  who  may  be  mine  enemy." 

"  Nay,  friend,  we  're  none  of  us  enemies  of  yours,  nor 


170  BETTY  ALDEN. 

of  any  but  those  who  are  enemies  of  God  and  the  king  ; 
still  so  far  as  my  will  goes,  Betty  is  free  to  walk  with 
you  if  her  mother  needs  her  not." 

"  And  may  I  ask  of  your  courtesy  that  you  will  put  the 
matter  before  your  dame,  as  I  am  not  like  to  see  her  ?  " 

"  Surely,  although  the  mistress  bade  me  say  that  she 
is  presently  coming  to  look  once  more  at  your  wounded 
hands  and  arms." 

"  Oh,  they  are  all  but  well.  Sound  flesh  and  good 
blood  like  mine  heal  apace."  And  Sir  Christopher,  with 
a  self -approving  smile,  held  up  his  well-shaped  hands 
and  straightened  his  comely  figure. 

John  Alden  looked  and  listened,  but  made  no  re 
sponse,  unless  a  slow  smile  that  began  almost  imper 
ceptibly,  and  widened  and  widened  until  it  showed 
nearly  all  his  broad  white  teeth,  could  be  called  so. 
But  before  it  gained  its  full  development  he  had  left 
the  room. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"  TWO    IS    COMPANY,    THREE    IS   TRUMPERY  !  " 

AND  so  it  fell  that  about  three  o'clock  that  afternoon, 
as  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner  and  Betty  Alden  wandered 
along  the  southern  foot  of  Burying  Hill,  then  called 
Fort  Hill,  searching  under  the  lee  of  every  rock  and 
clump  of  bushes  for  the  epigaea,  as  often  to  be  found  by 
its  pure  spicy  fragrance  as  by  sight  of  its  coy  clusters 
of  pink  and  white  blossoms,  Prissie  Carpenter,  a  little 
basket  in  her  hand,  came  strolling  along  the  brookside, 
rather  ostentatiously  bound  upon  the  same  errand. 

"  Now  would  I  like  the  skill  of  a  painter  fellow  I 
knew  in  Holland,  one  Martin  Ryckaert,  a  man  I  could 
take  by  the  heel  and  eat  him  body  and  bones  as  I  would 
a  prawn ;  but  give  him  his  charcoal  and  his  paints  and 
his  canvas,  and  he  'd  picture  out  this  scene  for  you  as 
if  you  saw  it." 

So  spake  Sir  Christopher,  who,  old  swashbuckler 
though  he  was,  possessed  a  real  love  of  nature  and  a 
real  appreciation  of  beauty  in  whatever  form  it  revealed 
itself,  as  he  stood  upright  with  folded  arms  and  looked 
about  him,  while  Betty,  her  little  fingers  grimed  with 
soil  and  scratched  with  briers,  delved  amid  the  thickset 
ground  pine  to  find  the  flowers  hiding  there. 

It  was  one  of  those  early  April  days  which  redeem 
the  character  of  the  froward  month,  and  make  one 
almost  love  its  capricious  yet  prophetic  gleams  better 


172  BETTY  ALDEN. 

than  the  assured  joys  of  June.  A  high  wind  from  the 
west  drove  before  it  great  white  cumuli,  glittering  like 
silver  in  the  strong  sunlight,  and  careering  across  the 
sky  and  dropping  down  behind  Manomet  as  if  in  an 
illimitable  game  of  hide-and-seek  and  catch-who-catch- 
can.  The  waves,  uneasy  at  beholding  liberty  they 
might  not  have,  and  games  they  might  not  join,  leaped 
as  high  as  they  could  toward  that  azure  playground, 
laughed  back  to  the  sun  who  laughed  with  them,  or, 
breaking  hoarsely  upon  the  shore,  sent  up  their  voices  of 
sturdy  discontent.  The  trees,  moved  by  such  gigantic 
melody  to  bear  their  part  in  the  grand  antiphony, 
clashed  their  bare  branches  in  a  rhythm  too  vast  for 
the  human  ear  to  comprehend,  while  the  evergreens 
murmured  and  sobbed  and  whispered  together,  lament 
ing  that  they  had  not  even  dried  leaves  to  send  whirl 
ing  down  that  wondrous  dance.  The  brook,  its  icy 
winter  shroud  still  clinging  to  the  banks,  rose  up  to 
assert  that  life  defies  the  shroud,  and  that  there  is  a 
power  of  spring  which  shall  vanquish  death  again  and 
again  forever  ;  and  as  the  brown  waters  went  tumbling 
and  leaping  down  toward  the  ocean  which  the  icy 
shroud  can  never  compass,  their  sweet  voices  joined  in 
the  universal  song  like  children  in  the  choir.  On  shel 
tered  slopes  and  sunny  hillsides  the  grass  was  springing 
green,  and  though  no  flowers  disputed  the  epigsea's  pre 
cedence,  the  violets  and  anemones,  the  snowdrops  and 
the  Solomon's  seal,  stood  with  finger  on  lip  and  foot  on 
the  threshold,  waiting  for  courage  to  cross  it. 

Coming  up  the  brookside  in  her  blue  skirt  and  mantle, 
a  white  handkerchief  tied  over  her  hair,  which  in  spite 
of  it  escaped  in  a  hundred  little  dancing  tendrils,  Prissie 
seemed  a  part  of  the  great  sweeping  harmony  of  sky 


TWO  IS  COMPANY,   THREE  IS  TRUMPERY.    173 

and  wind  and  sea  and  shore,  and  the  knight,  as  with  his 
extended  right  arm  he  swept  in  the  lines  of  a  magnifi 
cent  imaginary  landscape,  felt,  as  his  eyes  first  lighted 
upon  that  figure,  more  as  if  it  were  the  fitting  centre 
and  motif  of  his  piece  than  a  real  personage. 

"  A  red  cloak  would  be  better,"  muttered  he.  "  And 
yet  no,  —  no,  —  the  cold  purity  of  blue  is  more  harmo 
nious,  and  marries  well  with  sky  and  sea,  but  —  Aha, 
Betty,  there  's  your  friend  Mistress  Carpenter !  " 

"Is  it?    Oh,  yes!    I '11  call  her." 

"  Nay,  we  '11  stroll  that  way  and  see  the  brook  near 
at  hand,  and  you  may  search  for  gooseberries  while  I 
exchange  a  word  with  pretty  Prissie." 

"  There  are  no  gooseberries  as  yet,  sir,"  replied  Betty, 
bewildered  ;  but  the  knight  only  laughed  and  strode 
farther  down  the  hill  toward  the  brook. 

At  that  very  moment  Myles  Standish  pushed  his 
round  head  and  square  shoulders  through  the  trap  door 
leading  from  the  interior  of  the  Fort  to  the  flat  roof, 
along  the  parapet  of  which  his  beloved  guns  were 
ranged,  and  lightly  stepped  off  the  ladder,  saying,  — 

"  Come  out  hither,  Wright,  and  I  '11  show  you  through 
the  perspective  glass  the  beginnings  of  my  new  house. 
Ha !  Does  not  the  hill  show  fairly  against  the  sky  ?  " 

"  The  Captain's  Hill,  all  men  call  it,"  said  William 
Wright,  carefully  coming  out  upon  the  roof,  and  shad 
ing  his  eyes  with  his  hand  as  he  looked  across  the  water 
to  the  bold  eminence,  tree-crowned  and  majestic,  upon 
whose  skirts  Standish  had  already  erected  a  summer 
cottage  soon  to  be  solidified  into  a  dwelling. 

"  I  know  they  do,"  replied  his  companion  absently, 
while  he  adjusted  the  clumsy  glass  solemnly  deposited 
in  his  charge  by  the  chiefs  of  the  colony.  "  But  I  better 


174  BETTY  ALDEN. 

like  to  call  it  Duxbury,  for  it  minds  me  of  hills  I  knew 
of  old." 

"  I  know  no  hills  called  Duxbury  in  England,"  ob 
jected  Wright  cautiously. 

"Nay,  the  hills  are  called  Pennine,  but  the  place 
where  I  first  saw  them  is  in  the  manor  of  Duxbury.  Ha  ! 
look  you  here,  Wright,  here  's  matter  close  at  hand  more 
nearly  concerning  us  than  the  Pennine  hills.  See  you 
yonder  ?  " 

"  T  is  Mistress  Carpenter  and  —  and  the  man  Gardi 
ner,"  stammered  Wright,  staring  down  into  the  valley 
at  his  feet. 

"  Ay,  and  little  Betty  Alden  picking  posies  so  far 
away  that  she  might  as  well  be  at  home.  Mind  you, 
now,  my  friend,  how  close  the  rascal  walks  to  the  maid 
en's  side,  and  how  those  hawk's  eyen  of  his  stare  into 
her  fair  face  ;  and  by  my  faith,  he  's  grasping  her  hand 
and  she,  poor  maid,  knows  not  haw  to  pull  it  away !  " 

"  She  might  an'  she  would,"  muttered  William 
Wright  jealously. 

"  Oh,  I  know  not,  I  know  not,"  retorted  Myles,  teasing 
him.  "  She  's  but  a  withy  lass,  and  mayhap  afraid  of 
him.  Is  it  true  she  's  troth-plight  to  you,  Wright  ?  " 

"  Yes  —  that  is  no  ;  she  never  would  give  her  prom 
ise  sure  and  fast,  but  I  had  hoped  "  — 

"  Then,  man,  if  you  will  be  said  by  my  advice,  you  '11 
make  down  to  the  brook  at  best  speed  and  secure  that 
faltering  hope  before  it  is  floated  away  like  the  flowers 
the  silly  maid  is  stripping  off  and  flinging  into  the  brook, 
not  knowing  what  she  's  about.  Go  down,  Wright,  and 
claim  your  own." 

"  Nay,  Captain,"  returned  Wright,  whose  thin  face 
had  grown  tallow-pale,  and  whose  thin  lips  refused  to 


TWO  IS  COMPANY,   THREE  IS  TEUMPEBY.    175 

take  moisture  from  a  tongue  almost  as  dry.  "  If  Mis 
tress  Carpenter  finds  her  pleasure  in  such  company  and 
such  folly  I  '11  not  trouble  her  with  mine.  No,  I  'm  not 
for  a  young  gentlewoman  who  brings  such  manners  and 
such  morals  from  the  wicked  courts  of  kings." 

"  Come,  come,  Wright,  I  '11  not  listen  to  your  light 
lying  of  Mistress  Bradford's  sister.  'T  is  a  good  girl 
as  ever  stepped  and  a  pure  maid  as  lives  in  Plymouth, 
but  she  's  young,  man,  a  score  of  years  younger  than 
you,  and  doubtless  she 's  known  the  man  in  England, 
and  they  've  met  by  chance,  and  he  is  parley-vooing 
after  the  fashion  of  his  kind,  and  she  knows  not  how 
to  be  rid  of  him.  Come,  go  you  down,  man !  Or  go 
with  me,  if  it  suits  you  better." 

"  No,  Captain,  I  '11  not  go."  And  the  stubborn  face 
hardened  in  the  utterly  discouraging  way  some  faces 
can.  "  But  I  '11  ask  this  much  of  your  kindness,  friend  : 
go  you  and  meet  them,  and  find  out,  as  you  so  well  can 
do,  what  is  the  meaning  and  the  intent  of  it  all ;  and  es 
pecially  tell  me  if  you  as  an  honest  man  will  say  to  me 
that  this  maid  is  such  a  maid  as  a  cautious,  God-fearing 
man  may  crave  for  his  wife.  I  will  trust  to  your  discre 
tion  rather  than  to  mine  own  fears,  Standish.'' 

"  Well,  man,  I  '11  try  to  warrant  your  trust,"  replied 
the  captain,  laughing  a  little,  "  although  I  do  not  feel 
it  in  myself  to  be  the  judge  in  a  Court  of  Love  such  as 
they  hold  in  France  and  those  parts.  But  you  may  be 
sure  I  '11  deal  fairly  both  by  you  and  the  maid.  Come 
after  sunset  and  I  '11  tell  you  how  I  have  fared." 

"  Nay,  Pris,  sweet  Pris,  't  is  such  a  pretty  name  I 
fain  would  dwell  on 't  since  I  may  not  take  sweeter  dews 
upon  my  lips,  believe  me,  fairest,  I  have  forgot  nothing 
of  that  fair  memory  ;  all  I  then  said  I  say  now  and 


176  BETTY  ALDEN. 

again  and  again  !  I  came  to  New  England  for  naught 
but  to  find  thee  once  more,  and  to  woo  thee  for  mine 
own  dear  wife  and  lady  paramount  so  long  "  — 

But  upon  the  smooth  and  dulcet  tones  of  the  knight 
suddenly  intruded  a  strident  and  mocking  voice  :  — 

"  Good-e'en  to  you,  Mistress  Prissie  ;  so  you  are  look 
ing  for  mayflowers  already  ?  " 

"  Ah !  Oh,  Captain  Standish,  how  you  startled  me  ! 
I  knew  not  you  were  here." 

"  Nay,  I  'm  grieved  to  have  startled  you,  mistress,  but 
why  should  not  I  take  my  walks  abroad  and  look  for 
mayflowers  as  well  as  you.  or  at  least  as  well  as  this 
gentleman,  whose  walks  in  life  have  not  always  led  him 
in  such  pleasant  paths,  more  than  mine  own.  How  say 
you,  Sir  Christopher  ?  We  did  not  gather  posies  much 
in  those  stirring  days  among  the  Turks  wherein  I  first 
met  your  knightship." 

"  I  do  not  remember  meeting  you,  Captain  Standish, 
before  I  came  to  New  England,"  replied  the  knight 
coldly. 

"  No  ?  Well,  you  are  an  older  man  than  I.  and  your 
memory  more  laden,  so  like  enough  a  little  matter  may 
well  slip  out  of  it.  But  when  I  saw  you  there  at  Passon- 
agessit  t'  other  day  I  was  sure  't  was  not  the  first  time. 
And  how  is  the  fair  lady  we  saw  with  you  ?  Your  wife, 
is  she  not  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,  she  is  not  my  wife  !  "  thundered  Sir  Chris 
topher,  and  the  captain's  face  assumed  an  expression  of 
dismay  and  embarrassment. 

"  Not  your  wife  !  "  echoed  he.  "  Nay,  nay ;  if  I  'd 
known  that,  I  would  not  have  named  her  in  presence  of 
this  modest  gentlewoman.  But  how  is  it,  then,  that  she 
spake  of  you  as  her  lord  ?  Nay,  I  '11  not  push  the  mat- 


TWO  IS  COMPANY,   THREE  IS  TRUMPERY.    177 

ter,  sith  I  see  't  is  an  over-delicate  matter.  Wow  !  this 
wind  cuts  through  one's  blood.  Mistress  Prissie,  I  much 
fear  me  you  '11  catch  a  megrim  if  you  linger  longer  by 
the  brookside,  and  Betty,  't  is  high  time  thou  wert  help 
ing  thy  mother  with  the  supper  ;  run  home,  little  maids, 
and  Sir  Christopher,  I  '11  show  you  something  more  to 
your  taste  than  spring  flowers  and  young  lassies.  Come 
up  to  the  Fort  and  help  me  fire  the  sunset  gun." 

Sir  Christopher's  face  was  very  dark,  and  possibly 
enough  the  captain  had  not  so  easily  taken  his  captive, 
but  that  Prissie  Carpenter,  ashamed  and  terrified  at  the 
meaning  she  suspected  under  the  captain's  debonair  look 
and  voice,  had  already  fled  toward  the  village,  followed 
by  Betty  with  a  basket  full  of  flowers,  but  a  conscience 
full  of  thorns. 

Seeing  that  resistance  had  thus  become  useless,  the 
knight  gloomily  accepted  his  defeat,  and  clomb  the  hill 
beside  the  captain,  whose  jovial  manner  suddenly 
dropped  into  silence,  nor  did  he  speak  until  the  two  men 
stood  upon  the  roof  of  the  Fort.  Then,  while  the  sun, 
disdaining  the  mantle  of  gold  and  purple  officiously  pre 
sented  by  the  western  clouds,  sank  in  undimmed  glory  to 
the  horizon,  and  resting  there  an  instant  seemed  to  view 
once  more  the  fair  domain  he  now  must  abandon,  Stan- 
dish,  his  lighted  match  in  one  hand,  laid  a  finger  of  the 
other  upon  his  companion's  breast. 

"  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner,"  said  he,  "  we  breed  no 
Mary  Groves  in  these  parts,  and  yon  young  gentle 
woman  is  the  sister  of  our  governor,  and  the  promised 
wife  of  one  of  our  worthiest  citizens.  'T  would  go  hard 
with  the  man  that  trifled  with  her,  and  well  do  I  hope 
no  more  hath  been  said  than  is  soon  forgotten  and  will 
leave  no  blot  behind." 


178  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Since  when  hath  Myles  Standish  added  the  duty  of 
father  confessor  to  his  other  cares  ?  "  demanded  Gar 
diner  with  a  sneer. 

"  Ask  rather,  what  sin  hath  he  committed  so  notable 
as  to  call  for  the  penance  of  listening  to  thy  confession, 
my  son  ?  "  retorted  the  captain  good-humoredly.  "  Nay, 
man,  take  my  hint  in  good  part,  as  indeed  't  is  meant. 
This  maid  is  not  for  thy  fooling,  and  thine  own  affairs 
are  like  to  give  thee  trouble  enough  without  mixing  and 
moiling  them  further.  Ha  !  the  sun  is  going  "  —  Puff  ! 
and  the  dull  boom  of  heavy  metal  resounded  across  the 
quiet  town,  and  startled  the  eagle  circling  above  hisnest 
on  Captain's  Hill. 

Then  the  two  men  went  silently  down  the  hill,  and 
whatever  may  have  been  the  knight's  secret  resolves  of 
virtue,  he  never  again  found  the  opportunity  to  test 
them. 

"  Now,  Betty,"  said  her  mother,  as  the  family  rose 
from  that  meal  we  call  tea,  but  they  named  supper,  "  I 
will  put  the  babies  to  bed,  and  then  step  up  the  hill  to 
Mistress  Standish's  to  see  little  Lora,  who  is  worse  of  her 
measles  to-night,  and  thou  wash  up  the  dishes  and  redd 
the  kitchen,  and  then  go  to  bed  like  a  good  little  lass. 
I  '11  take  in  the  gentleman's  supper,  and  ask  what  he 
fancies  for  his  breakfast.  John,  you  '11  find  me  at  the 
captain's  when  't  is  time  for  lecture." 

"  Ay,  dame  ;  and  meantime  I  '11  smoke  a  quiet  pipe 
here  with  Betty  and  dry  my  wet  feet." 

But  hardly  had  the  mother  disappeared  when  John 
Alden  felt  two  tender  arms  about  his  neck,  and  heard  a 
broken  whisper,  — 

Oh,  father  !     I  'm  so  sorry  !  " 

What !    Betty,  child,  is  ?t  thou  ?   And  crying !    Nay, 


u 


TWO  IS  COMPANY,   THREE  IS  TRUMPERY.    179 

then,  little  woman,  what  is  it  all  about  ?  Come  sit  on 
father's  knee  and  tell  him  thy  trouble.  What  makes 
thee  sorry,  my  little  maid  ?  " 

«  I  —  don't  —  know  —  father." 

"  Don't  know  !  Nay,  how  canst  thou  be  sorry  and 
not  know  why  ?  That 's  naught  but  foolishness,  Betty." 

"  Please,  father,  will  you  speak  to  mother,  and  not 
have  me  carry  the  gentleman's  sarver  into  the  fore-room, 
nor  make  his  bed  any  more  ?  " 

"  What !  what !  "  exclaimed  Alden,  pushing  the  child 
back  until  he  could  look  into  her  wet  and  troubled  face. 
*'  Nay,  then,  Betty,  I  '11  have  the  truth  of  thee  ;  has  the 
man  been  rude  to  thee,  or  said  a  word  amiss  ?  " 

"I  —  oh,  don't  look  so  angry,  father ;  you  frighten 
me." 

"  But  I  will  be  answered,  Betty  !  Why  dost  thou  fear 
to  go  into  this  man's  room?  What  has  he  said  to  thee  ?  " 

"  He  's  said  naught  but  kindness,  father ;  he  never 
spoke  a  cross  word,  not  one.  What  should  he  scold  me 
about  ?  " 

And  the  innocent  wonder  of  the  sweet  face  filled  the 
man  with  fear  lest  his  child  might  have  understood  him. 
Yet  still  with  his  own  persistence  he  asked,  — 

"  But  why  dost  thou  not  want  to  take  him  his  victual, 
poppet  ?  " 

"  I  may  not  tell  you,  daddy  dear,  because  I  promised 
sure  and  fast  I  would  not  tell,  but  I  'd  rather  he  asked 
mother  or  you  "  — 

"  Asked  us  what,  child  ?  " 

"  To  help  him  —  Nay,  father,  please  do  not  ask  me, 
for  I  promised  I  would  tell  nobody,  and  he  said  they  'd 
cut  off  his  ears  and  burn  his  cheeks  "  — 

"  Tut,  tut,  he  's  been  scaring  thee,  thou  silly  little 


180  BETTY  ALDEN. 

maid,  and  I  doubt  not  asking  thee  to  help  him  escape. 
Now  is  n't  that  the  great  secret  ?  " 

"  No,  daddy  —  that  is,  perhaps  he  thought  Pris  would 
help  him  escape  "  — 

"  Pris  ?  Why,  what  has  she  to  do  with  this  man,  or 
thou  with  either  of  them  ?  " 

"  Mother  's  coming,  and  I  don't  want  to  tell  her,  for 
she  'd  chide  me  so  sharply  if  I  did  not  give  up  the 
secret,  and  I  promised,  father  dear,  I  promised,  and  you 
said  I  ought  to  die  rather  than  tell  a  willful  lie." 

"  And  so  I  did.  Well,  I  '11  think  on  't ;  go  back  to 
thy  dishes  now." 

And  as  Priscilla  bustled  into  the  room  and  hastily 
put  on  her  outdoor  gear  she  noticed  neither  how  grave 
her  husband  looked,  nor  how  little  progress  Betty  had 
made  with  the  dishes. 

A  little  later,  as  John  Alden  brought  his  wife  home 
from  the  lecture,  he  said,  — 

"  William  Wright  was  telling  me  that  he  saw  Prissie 
Carpenter  and  our  Betty  with  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner 
by  the  brook  picking  posies  this  afternoon." 

"  Why  't  was  you  that  bade  me  send  Betty  out  with 
him  !  "  exclaimed  Priscilla,  forestalling  the  objection  in 
her  husband's  voice. 

"  I  know  it,  and  I  'd  better  have  left  the  matter  to 
you,  wife.  It  was  ill  thought  on,  and  we  '11  not  have 
our  little  maid  called  in  question  if  the  man  is  plotting 
an  escape  "  — 

"  Talking  with  Pris  Carpenter,  was  he  ?  "  interrupted 
Priscilla  sharply. 

"Yes"  — 

"  Then  it  was  n't  escape  he  was  talking  of,  but  his 
own  captivity  to  her  charms.  She  knew  him  in  Eng- 


TWO  IS  COMPANY,   THREE  IS  TRUMPERY.    181 

land,  John  ;  she  told  me  so,  and  showed  me  a  token  he 
gave  her.  Mayhap  he  's  come  to  marry  her !  " 

"  And  the  woman  Mary  Grove,  what  make  you  of 
that,  wife  ?  " 

"  Oh,  a  body  must  have  charity,  and  many  a  mare's 
nest  is  naught  but  a  tangle  in  the  hedge.  We  11  see." 

"  Ay,  but  we  '11  not  have  our  Betty  mixed  in  with  any 
such  matter,  Priscilla,  and  I  pray  thee  keep  her  away 
from  this  man  while  he  is  in  our  house.  Do  not  send 
her  to  the  fore-room  again ;  one  of  the  boys  can  carry 
in  the  sarver,  or  I  will  do 't  myself,  but  Betty  is  not  to 
go  in  thither  again." 

"As  thou  sayest,  John,"  replied  Priscilla  with  a 
meekness  reserved  for  the  rare  occasions  when  her  hus 
band  chose  to  assert  his  authority  ;  so  thus  it  came  about 
that  not  again  during  the  week  he  remained  at  Ply 
mouth  did  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner  find  speech  with 
the  child,  who  never  to  her  dying  day  revealed  the 
secret  she  had  promised  to  keep,  and  never  quite  com 
forted  herself  for  the  duplicity  into  which  she  had  been 
led. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   LITTLE    BOOK. 

AN  uneasy  and  difficult  week  passed  over  Plymouth, 
its  shadow  resting  especially  upon  John  Alden's  house, 
when  one  fine  sunshining  morning  Jo,  the  second  boy, 
rushed  into  the  house,  with  the  news,  — 

"  Mother,  there  's  a  big  boat  down  from  the  Bay,  and 
a  captain  in  it,  bigger  than  our  captain,  and  the  gov 
ernor's  son,  and  a  mort  more  of  men  come  to  get  the 
man  in  our  fore-room." 

"  And  where  's  thy  father,  Jo  ?  " 

"  Oh,  he  's  down  there  at  the  waterside,  and  all  the 
other  men,  talking  with  the  Bay  folk,  and  I  ran  off  to 
tell  you,  mother." 

"  That 's  my  brave  boy  !  He  does  n't  forget  mother, 
does  he  ?  "  And  Priscilla  turned  to  look  fondly  at  her 
second-born,  a  fine,  manly  little  fellow,  with  a  marvel 
ous  likeness  to  his  uncle  Joseph  Molines,  victim  of  the 
first  winter's  pestilence,  the  brother  whom  Priscilla  had 
so  fondly  loved,  so  deeply  mourned. 

"  Well,  poor  man,  if  he  's  to  l>e  carried  away  pris 
oner  by  so  many  warders,  I  '11  e'en  toss  him  up  a  dainty 
dish  for  his  last  dinner  with  us,"  continued  she  busily. 
"  Jo,  my  man,  run  down  and  ask  father  if  any  of  the 
Indians  have  brought  in  oysters  to-day,  and  if  not,  to 
get  some  clams  or  a  lobster  ;  and  be  quick,  my  boy,  for 
it 's  hard  on  noon.  And,  Betty,  see  if  there  are  some 


THE  LITTLE  BOOK.  183 

fresh  eggs  in  the  hen  roost,  —  I  '11  make  an  omelet  with 
herbs  ;  and  there  's  a  fine  salmon  to  serve  with  cream 
sauce  and  a  sallet "  — 

"  We  might  kill  a  chicken,  mother,"  suggested  John, 
the  grave  first-born,  so  like  his  father  in  everything. 

"  Nay,  not  to-day,  Johnny,"  replied  Priscilla,  some 
what  embarrassed,  for  her  mind  reverted  to  a  little  dis 
covery  of  her  own,  and  her  eyes  glanced  toward  the 
high  mantel  where  lay  a  small  brown-covered  notebook 
much  worn  at  the  edges,  and  although  apparently  of 
trifling  value,  just  then  a  greater  weight  upon  the  mind 
of  the  mistress  than  even  her  silver  cup,  or  her  six  tea 
spoons. 

It  was  but  the  day  before  that  Betty  had  picked  up 
this  book  just  outside  the  house,  and  bringing  it  to  her 
mother  said  she  thought  the  gentleman  had  dropped  it 
out  of  his  pocket,  for  she  had  seen  it  in  his  room  upon 
the  table.  Opening  it  at  random,  Priscilla  read  a  few 
words  only,  but  those  so  strange  that,  instead  of  at  once 
restoring  the  book,  she  laid  it  aside  until  she  should 
have  time  to  consider  her  duty  in  the  matter.  On  one 
side  lay  hospitality  and  honor,  but  on  the  other  was  the 
obligation  to  justice  and  to  the  common  weal,  which  to 
those  early  settlers  was  a  matter  far  more  vital  than  to 
us,  for  it  included  not  only  their  own  interests,  but  per 
haps  the  very  lives  of  all  belonging  to  them.  If  here 
indeed  was  "  a  snake  in  the  tender  grass,"  had  she  a  right 
to  let  him  wind  his  beautiful  deadly  way  out  of  reach 
of  justice  ?  But  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  danger 
deadly  enough  to  warrant  her  in  betraying  the  man  who 
had  eaten  her  salt  ?  This  controversy  of  mind,  suffi 
ciently  perplexing  to  a  woman  of  Priscilla's  day  and 
training,  was  suddenly  resolved  by  the  news  brought 


184  BETTY  ALDEN. 

home  by  John  Alden  that  the  Boston  boat  would  return 
directly  after  noon-meat,  and  that  Sir  Christopher  Gardi 
ner  would  return  with  her. 

"  Then  come  you  in  here  a  moment,  John,"  said  Pris- 
cilla,  rising  from  her  almost  untasted  dinner,  and  lead 
ing  the  way  to  her  bedroom. 

John  ruefully  rose,  his  eyes  upon  his  plate,  where  lay 
a  huge  segment  of  suet  pudding  which  he  had  just  be 
gun  to  absorb  in  his  own  slow  and  methodical  fashion. 
Betty's  quick  eyes  saw  the  whole. 

"  I  '11  turn  a  basin  over  it,  father,  and  set  it  by  the 
fire  till  you  're  ready  for  it,"  said  she  with  a  flashing 
smile  ;  and  her  father,  smiling  also,  replied,  — 

"  Thou  'rt  ever  a  good  little  wench,  Betty  !  " 

"  See  here,  John  !  See  this  little  book  !  "  exclaimed 
Priscilla,  shutting  the  door  so  promptly  as  nearly  to 
catch  her  husband's  last  foot  in  the  crack.  "  'T  is  the 
man's,  and  mayhap  the  governor  ought  to  know  he  's  a 
Catholic  for  one  thing.  See,  see  !  Is  n't  that  what  this 
page  meaneth  ?  " 

"  Ay,  he  was  reconciled,  as  they  call  it,  on  such  a 
day  and  "  —  But  as  Alden  pored  over  the  scribbled 
entry,  murmuring  vaguely  such  words  as  more  clearly 
presented  themselves,  his  impetuous  wife  interrupted 
him  :  — 

"  I  gave  him  fish  for  his  dinner  to-day,  sith  I  would 
not  have  a  dog  lack  meat  to  his  mind  in  mine  own  house, 
but  still  I  remember  how  those  fiends  of  Catholics  mur 
dered  my  grandsire  in  cold  blood,  and  his  wife  after  him, 
for  naught  but  that  they  were  Huguenots,  as  we  are, 
and  I  must  hate  Catholics  forevermore." 

"  Nay,  wife,  not  hate  them,  —  not  hate  whom  God 
has  made  and  still  spares  for  repentance,"  suggested 
John  ;  but  Priscilla  impatiently  tossed  her  head. 


THE  LITTLE  BOOK.  185 

"  God  is  God,  and  I  'm  but  poor  Priscilla,  his  crea 
ture.  I  cannot  love  and  hate  all  in  one  breath  the  same 
thing." 

"  Nay,  wife,  but  thou  didst  give  the  man  what  meat 
his  conscience  called  for  on  a  Friday  ?  " 

"  Yes,  of  course  I  did." 

"  And  now  will  deliver  him  to  death,  if  so  it  be  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  cannot  tell ;  but  I  hate  Catholics  ;  my  father 
bade  me  do  so." 

"  And  yet  thou  dost  feed  them,  and  I  '11  be  bound 
thou  'It  see  that  this  man's  tender  wounds  are  well  cov 
ered  from  the  cold  before  he  goes  aboard." 

"  There,  now,  I  'm  glad  you  spoke  on  't,  John  !  I  '11 
lap  his  arms  with  a  good  woolen  bandage,  and  you  must 
lend  him  your  old  horseman's  cloak  to  wrap  himself 
withal.  The  governor  '11  fetch  it  some  day  when  he 
goes  up  to  visit  the  Bay  governor  again." 

"  Nay,  wife,  I  don't  see  but  thou  dost  humbly  follow 
thy  God,  and  love  the  sinner  while  thou  dost  hate  the 
sin."  And  John  slowly  and  fondly  smiled  down  upon 
the  petulant  brown  face  of  the  wife  he  still  loved  as  well 
as  when  first  he  wooed  her. 

"  Oh,  I  know  not  how  that  may  be,  my  Jeannot," 
replied  Priscilla,  laughing  and  blushing  a  little  as  she 
saw  herself  trapped.  "  But  here  's  the  little  book." 

"  Ay,  here  's  the  little  book,  and  to  my  mind  the  best 
thing  is  for  me  to  carry  it  straight  to  the  governor  and 
let  him  do  with  it  as  he  lists.  'T  is  a  matter  too  weighty 
for  us  to  handle  alone." 

"  Doubtless  you  're  right,  John,  and  here  it  is,"  and 
Priscilla,  with  a  little  sigh  of  vague  regret,  handed  the 
book  to  her  husband,  and  watched  him  as  he  at  once 
left  the  house  to  carry  it  to  the  governor. 


186  BETTY  ALDEN. 

But  Betty  kept  the  pudding  warm  for  his  supper. 

That  afternoon  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner,  formally 
made  over  to  the  custody  of  Captain  John  Underbill  and 
Lieutenant  Dudley,  son  of  the  deputy-governor,  sailed 
out  of  Plymouth  wearing  John  Alden's  cloak,  in  which 
he  sullenly  muffled  the  lower  part  of  his  face,  while  a 
slouched  hat  nearly  covered  the  upper. 

"  Are  you  sick  ?  "  bluntly  demanded  Underbill,  who 
had  orders  to  treat  his  prisoner  honorably  and  kindly. 

"  Nay,  I  'm  sorry,"  retorted  the  knight. 

"  Fortune  of  war,  comrade,"  returned  the  Puritan 
captain  not  unkindly,  "  and  there  's  no  very  sharp  mea 
sure  laid  up  for  you,  as  I  take  it.  Our  governor  bade 
me  have  a  care  for  your  comfort,  and  the  Plymouth 
governor  hath  writ  a  long  letter  to  Master  Winthrop,  all 
in  your  favor,  as  I  know  from  what  he  was  saying  to 
Alden. 

"  '  Have  no  fear,'  says  he,  '  it  shall  do  him  no  harm ;' 
and  t'other  returns, '  We  did  but  our  duty,  and  yet  would 
be  right  loath  to  hurt  the  man.'  Now  what  make  you  of 
that,  man  ?  " 

"  Read  the  governor's  letter  and  you  11  know  more 
than  I  do,"  replied  Sir  Christopher  gloomily. 

"  Read  it !  Nay,  that 's  not  my  business.  But  't  is  a 
hugeous  letter." 

And  from  the  pocket  of  his  doublet  Underwood  drew 
forth  a  little  packet  carefully  sealed  and  superscribed,  — 

To 

MASTER  JOHN  WINTHROP, 

Honourable  Governor  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony 
these  : 

As  he  turned  the  package  over  and  over  in  his  hands, 


THE  LITTLE  BOOK.  187 

the  knight,  who  at  first  had  glanced  at  it  in  moody  in 
difference,  roused  to  intense  attention,  and  finally,  while 
a  streak  of  dusky  red  animated  his  sallow  cheek,  ex 
tended  his  hand,  saying  as  carelessly  as  he  could,  — 

"  Let  me  look  at  the  governor's  seal,  captain.  Has  it 
an  heraldic  device  ?  " 

"  Nay,  I  know  naught  of  such  follies,"  returned  Un- 
derhill,  holding  out  the  packet ;  but  even  as  his  fingers 
touched  those  of  the  knight,  trembling  with  impatience, 
a  glance  at  his  face,  or  perhaps  only  the  soldier's  in 
stinct  of  peril  at  hand,  suddenly  diverted  his  attention, 
and  snatching  back  the  dispatch,  he  began  to  replace 
it  in  his  doublet,  saying  gruffly,  — 

"  Marry,  't  is  no  business  of  mine  or  thine  what  these 
governors  say  to  one  another." 

"  Nay,  but  I  'm  sick  —  make  way,  man,  make  way  " 
—  and  throwing  himself  across  Underbill,  as  if  to  reach 
the  side  of  the  boat,  Sir  Christopher,  what  with  his  long 
arms  flying  all  abroad,  and  what  with  the  great  cloak 
that  swept  across  Underbill's  face  and  breast,  came  very 
near  knocking  the  packet  out  of  his  hand  and  sweeping 
it  overboard. 

"  Have  a  care,  man  !  Have  a  care  !  "  cried  the  cap 
tain  angrily.  "  Though  you  're  squalmish  all  of  a  sud 
den,  you  need  n't  fling  yourself  nor  me  overboard."  And 
thrusting  the  inclosure  containing  Sir  Christopher's  note 
book  and  the  kind  and  gentle  letter  accompanying  it 
deep  into  his  pocket,  the  future  slayer  of  "  Pequods  " 
recovered  his  equilibrium  and  made  room  for  Sir  Chris 
topher,  who,  leaning  his  head  upon  the  gunwale  of  the 
boat,  effectually  hid  his  face  from  view,  and  made  no 
reply  to  further  efforts  at  conversation. 

A  week  or  so  later  another  Boston  boat  came  down 


188  BETTY  ALDEN. 

to  Plymouth,  and  brought  John  Alden's  cloak  and  a 
letter  to  Bradford  from  Governor  Winthrop.  It  tells 
its  own  story  in  its  own  quaint  phraseology :  — 

S?  :  It  hath  pleased  God  to  bring  S«  Christopher  Gar 
dener  safe  to  us  with  thos  that  came  with  him.  And 
howsoever  I  never  intended  any  hard  measure  to  him, 
but  to  respecte  and  use  him  according  to  his  qualitie, 
yet  I  let  him  know  your  care  of  him,  and  y*  he  shall 
speed  ye  better  for  your  mediation.  It  was  a  spetiall 
providence  of  God  to  bring  those  notes  of  his  to  our 
hands ;  I  desire  y*  you  will  please  to  speake  to  all  y*  are 
privie  to  them  not  to  discover  them  to  any  one  for  y1 
may  frustrate  ye  means  of  any  farder  use  to  be  made  of 
them.  The  good  Lord  our  God  who  hath  all  ways  or 
dered  things  for  ye  good  of  his  poore  churches  here  di- 
recte  us  in  this  arighte,  and  dispose  it  to  a  good  issue. 
I  am  sorie  we  put  you  to  so  much  trouble  about  this 
gentleman,  espetialy  at  this  time  of  greate  imploymente, 
but  I  know  not  how  to  avoyed  it.  I  must  again  intreate 
you  to  let  me  know  what  charge  &  treble  any  of  your 
people  have  been  at  aboute  him,  y*  it  may  be  recom- 
penced.  So  with  the  trew  affection  of  a  frind  desiring 
all  happines  to  your  self e  &  yours,  and  to  all  my  worthy 
friends  with  you  (whome  I  love  in  ye  Lord)  I  comende 
you  to  his  grace  &  good  providence  &  rest 
your  most  assured  friend 

JOHN  WINTHROP  1 

BOSTON  May  5,  1631 

1  True  copy. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

A   MUCH-MARRIED   MAN. 

THE  spring  had  ripened  into  midsummer,  and  under 
the  sad  and  foreboding  eyes  of  Governor  Bradford  a 
most  ominous  hegira  of  some  of  his  dearest  friends  and 
Plymouth's  most  valued  townsmen  had  taken  place, 
nominally  for  the  summer  only,  but  as  Bradford  too 
plainly  foresaw  not  to  end  with  the  summer. 

Standish's  house  upon  the  foot  of  his  own  hill  was 
complete,  and  not  far  away  Jonathan  Brewster,  the 
Elder's  oldest  son,  had  put  up  a  summer  cottage  and  es 
tablished  his  wife  and  children.  This  might  have  passed, 
but  when  the  Elder  himself,  with  his  two  sons  Love  and 
Wrestling,  also  built  a  cottage  close  beside  Jonathan's 
upon  a  pretty  inlet  called  Eagle's  Creek,  the  governor's 
heart  sank  within  him,  and,  calling  a  Court  of  the  Peo 
ple,  he  proposed  a  legal  enactment  to  the  effect  that 
those  colonists  who  should  build  houses  outside  the 
town  limits  for  the  convenience  of  grazing  or  farming 
should  return  to  the  town  at  the  beginning  of  winter, 
and  abide  there  until  spring;  also,  that  they  should 
week  by  week  come  into  town  to  attend  divine  service 
on  the  Lord's  Day. 

To  this  all  consented,  even  Winslow,  who,  in  spite  of 
his  frequent  and  protracted  absences  in  England,  had 
found  time  to  view  the  land  beyond  Duxbury,  and  to 
appropriate  a  lovely  and  fertile  tract  at  Green  Harbor 


190  BETTY  ALDEN. 

in  what  is  now  Marshfield.  Building  a  temporary  cot 
tage  here,  he  named  the  estate  Careswell  after  his 
ancestral  home  in  England,  and  in  true  family  spirit 
gathered  around  him  his  brothers :  John,  now  husband 
of  Mary  Chilton,  Josias,  and  Kenelm,  who,  married  to 
Ellinor  Newton  of  the  Fortune,  settled  upon  a  gentle 
eminence  by  the  sea  in  a  spot  so  fertile  and  so  beautiful 
that  it  was  fitly  named  Eden. 

Where  Standish  chose  to  lead,  John  Alden  was  in 
the  habit  of  following,  nor  was  this  migration  to  Dux- 
bury  an  exception,  for  in  this  very  summer  of  1631 
Alden  took  up  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  south  side 
of  Bluefish  River,  and  built  his  house  upon  a  pleasant 
rise  of  land  near  Eagletree  Pond ;  and  although  two 
other  houses  have  at  different  dates  replaced  the  one  he 
built,  his  children  of  the  eighth  generation  live  to-day 
upon  the  spot  where  Betty  Alden  grew  into  her  fair 
maidenhood,  and  brothers  and  sisters  made  home  happy, 
and  life  a  quiet  joy. 

All  these  things  and  more  had  William  Bradford 
been  rehearsing  to  his  friend  Captain  William  Pierce  of 
the  Lyon,  who  had  looked  into  Plymouth  to  leave  some 
passengers  and  merchandise  before  proceeding  upon 
his  voyage  to  England,  until  the  sailor,  sorry  for  the 
depression  and  foreboding  Bradford  did  not  disguise 
from  him,  cast  about  for  some  pleasanter  topic,  and 
finally  cried,  — 

"  Oh,  let  me  tell  you,  Governor,  of  the  hornets'  nest  I 
found  myself  caught  in,  awhile  ago  in  Lun'on  ;  and  by 
the  way,  Master  Isaac  Allerton  was  in  it  as  well. 
Did  n't  he  tell  you  here  of  the  two  wives  of  Sir  Christo 
pher  Gardiner  ?  " 

"Nay,  we  have  had  but  little  pleasant  converse  with 


A  MUCH-MARRIED  MAN.  191 

Master  Allerton  for  a  long  time  past,"  replied  Bradford 
heavily,  and  Pierce  hastened  to  proceed :  — 

"  I  know,  I  know,  it  would  seem  as  if  Allerton  with 
all  his  pious  texts  had  never  learned  that  the  man  who 
faileth  to  care  for  his  own  is  worse  than  a  beast ;  for  he 
cozened  his  own  old  father  as  much  as  he  did  you.  But 
this  is  another  matter.  It  was  in  February  that  I  was 
stopping  at  the  Three  Anchors  down  by  Wapping  Old 
Stairs,  and  Allerton  came  in  and  said  he  had  a  message 
from  a  woman  calling  herself  Lady  Gardiner,  who  fain 
would  have  speech  with  him  because  he  came  out  of 
New  England  ;  but  he,  prudent  man,  would  go  to  see  no 
fair  ladies  unknown  to  himself  without  a  reputable  wit 
ness  to  his  honest  intent,  and  so  he  was  come  for  me. 
Be  sure,  Bradford,  I  did  not  let  the  chance  slip  to  pass 
some  merry  jests  upon  our  sour-visaged  friend,  and 
brought  the  blood  to  his  tallow  cheeks  as  it  has  not  been 
seen  for  many  a  day  ;  but  in  the  end  I  gave  my  word 
to  go  and  protect  him  as  best  I  might  from  any  design 
ing  Lindabrides  who  might  assail  him.  So  at  once  we 
went  to  the  address  written  on  the  billet  that  was  sent 
him,  smelling  of  musk  and  ambergris  and  civet,  worse 
than  the  hold  of  the  Lyon  after  a  ten  weeks'  voyage. 
Coming  to  the  house  in  the  Strand,  we  found  in  a  very 
fair  lodging  not  one  but  two  fair  dames  ;  and  the  merry 
jest  of  it  is  that  both  the  one  and  the  other  are  honest 
women,  and  married  by  ring,  book,  and  bell  to  this 
same  gay  knight  whom  Winthrop  found  living  so 
meekly  in  the  woods  of  Neponset  River  with  his  cousin 
Mary  Grove." 

"  Nay,  Pierce,  but  this  passes  a  jest !  "  exclaimed 
Bradford,  much  disturbed  as  he  recalled  his  little  sister's 
pale  face,  and  his  wife's  anxieties  on  her  account.  But 


192  BETTY  ALDEN. 

the  jolly  mariner  mopped  his  red  face  and  laughed 
amain  while  he  replied,  — 

"  Nay,  nay,  Governor,  I  'm  no  church-member,  and  I 
suppose  you  saints  were  men  before  you  were  saints,  and 
how  can  you  help  to  see  the  mirth  of  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  tell  me  how  it  was." 

"  Why,  the  first  fair  dame,  —  and  a  pretty  creature 
she  was,  with  soft  eyes  like  those  of  your  wife's  pet  doe, 
and  yellow  hair,  but  a  mouth  too  sad  for  kisses,  and  a 
cheek  too  thin  and  white  for  my  taste,  —  she  showed  us 
her  marriage  lines,  and  told  how  she  was  married  some 
six  years  ago  to  this  Sir  Christopher  in  Paris,  and  there 
abode  until  a  few  weeks  before  that  speaking,  when, 
hearing  strange  rumors  of  her  husband's  proceedings,  she 
came  over  to  seek  him  in  Lun'on,  and  found  the  scent 
warm  indeed,  but  Master  Reynard  fled  over  seas  ;  and 
as  she  sought  him  up  and  down,  her  quest  crossed  that 
of  this  other  lady,  who  had  been  indeed  more  deeply 
wronged  than  herself.  And  at  that  word,  Number 
Two,  a  fine  bouncing  well-set-up  figure  of  a  woman, 
black  eyes  and  hair,  and  a  cheek  like  a  sturdy  rose,  and 
a  mouth  I  'd  rather  have  seen  at  peace  than  trembling 
with  rage,  she  took  up  the  word,  and  told  how  not  six 
months  before,  she  too  had  wed  Sir  Christopher  Gar 
diner,  and  she  too  showed  her  marriage  lines,  which  if 
not  so  binding  as  the  first  ones  had  at  least  the  merit 
of  being  writ  in  English  ;  and  furthermore  she  showed 
us  schedules  of  jewels  and  coin,  and  silver-  and  gold 
smith's  work,  and  much  rare  and  costly  apparel  both  for 
men  and  women,  for  she  was  a  widow,  and  all  of  it  gone 
over  seas  with  Sir  Christopher,  who,  it  seems,  after 
sending  her  for  a  day  or  two  to  visit  friends  in  the 
country,  had  made  a  clean  sweep  of  everything,  and  the 


A  MUCH  MARRIED  MAN.  193 

same  night  set  sail  for  Monhegan  with  Mary  Grove, 
for  whom,  poor  wench,  she  could  find  no  name  vile 
enough,  laying  all  the  blame,  as  is  the  wont  of  women, 
upon  her,  and  making  Sir  Kit  a  victim  of  her  wiles." 

"  You  saw  the  marriage  lines  of  both  these  women  ?  " 
asked  Bradford,  leaning  his  forehead  upon  his  hand  as 
he  sat  beside  the  table,  and  sighing  heavily. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  returned  Pierce,  wondering  at  the  effect 
of  his  story,  but  rather  attributing  it  to  the  morbid  sen 
sitiveness  of  a  church-member.  "  Yes,  they  were  both  of 
them  as  safe  as  a  chain-cable  ;  and  though  Sir  Kit  does 
seem  to  have  slipped  them,  he  couldn't  have  parted 
them  so  long  as  the  anchor  of  common  law  found  holding- 
ground.  Well,  both  women  were  clamoring  to  have  us 
two  catch  the  man  and  bring  him  back ;  but  while  the 
soft  sweet  first  wife  would  have  him  brought  back  to 
duty  and  gently  wooed  into  a  better  life,  the  full-rigged 
to'-gallant-s'il  gallant  buccaneer  of  a  second  wife  only 
yearned  to  get  him  within  reach  that  she  might  write 
the  ten  commandments  on  his  face  with  her  pretty  little 
nails,  and  if  she  could  n't  recover  her  jewels,  plate,  and 
apparel,  she  would  have  the  worth  of  them  out  of  his  hair 
and  hide,  and  as  for  Mary  Grove,  —  wow  !  man,  you 
should  have  heard  her !  The  ducking-stool,  and  the 
bilboes,  and  the  white  sheet,  and  the  cart's  tail,  and  I 
know  not  what,  were  but  the  beginning  of  the  blessings 
she  longed  to  pour  upon  that  poor  little  sinner's  head, 
oh  me,  oh  me  !  " 

And  again  the  sailor,  recalling  the  scene,  threw  back 
his  head  and  laughed  aloud,  but  meeting  no  response 
checked  himself  suddenly  and  continued  :  — 

"  Well,  Allerton  and  I,  when  we  might  be  heard,  as 
sured  both  the  one  and  the  other  dame  that  we  com- 


194  BETTY  ALDEN. 

passionated  their  sad  estate  most  heartily  and  would 
willingly  see  them  avenged,  but  that  we  had  no  power 
except  to  bring  the  matter  before  Governor  Winthrop, 
within  whose  jurisdiction  Sir  Christopher  had  settled, 
and  in  the  end  both  ladies  resolved  to  write  to  His  Ex 
cellency,  and  promised  to  send  the  letters  betimes  next 
day  to  the  Three  Anchors  at  Wapping  ;  which,  to  cut 
the  yarn  short,  they  did,  and  I  gave  them  to  Winthrop, 
and  he  as  you  know  coursed  the  hare,  or  rather,  hunted 
the  fox,  and  ran  him  down,  here  at  Plymouth." 

"  But  he  has  not  been  sent  home,  or  so  I  heard  the 
other  day  !  "  exclaimed  Bradford. 

"  No  ;  and  why,  I  know  not,"  replied  Pierce.  "  They 
kept  him  clapt  up  for  a  while,  but  finding  nothing  worse 
against  him  than  that  he  is  a  friend  to  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  who  wants  the  Massachusetts  lands  for  himself, 
they  gave  him  the  run  of  the  town,  and  he  has  been  va 
poring  up  and  down  there  for  months  more  than  one  or 
two.  But  now,  Bradford,  now  here  's  a  merry  jest  that 
even  you  cannot  but  smile  at  if  there  's  a  drop  of  red 
blood  in  your  veins. 

"  A  week  or  two  ago  a  stalwart  fellow  called  Thomas 
Purchase,  who  has  taken  up  land  at  the  eastward  at  a 
place  called  Sagadahoc,  on  the  Kennebec  River,  —  or  is 
it  the  Androscoggin  ?  " 

"  Both,  since  they  come  to  a  confluence.  We  have 
been  thither  trading  for  beaver,  and  will  have  a  port 
there  soon,  if  God  will." 

"  Well,  this  Purchase  is  a  big  man  down  there,  and 
meaning  to  be  bigger ;  so,  having  a  house,  he  came  to 
Boston  to  purvey  himself  a  wife ;  and  who  should  he 
pick  from  among  all  the  fair  and  godly  maids  and 
widows  of  that  pious  village  but  Mary  Grove,  who  has 


A  MUCH-MARRIED  MAN.  195 

been  waiting  there  until  the  magistrates  should  settle 
within  their  own  minds  which  of  the  Lady  Gardiners 
might  claim  the  plucking  of  her  feathers.  Yes,  sir  ; 
Thomas  Purchase,  with  his  eyes  and  his  ears  open, 
chose  Mary  Grove  to  be  his  wife,  Sir  Christopher  gave 
his  consent  and  his  blessing,  and  the  lord's  brethren,  as 
Blackstone  calls  them,  hailed  with  joy  so  clear  a  course 
out  of  the  muddle  they  'd  fallen  into  with  this  woman. 
So  Winthrop  himself  married  them,  and  Purchase,  hav 
ing  his  boat  at  hand,  well  stocked  with  the  barter  of  the 
beaver  he  had  brought  up,  carried  his  bride  aboard,  and 
also,  —  now  mark  you  well,  for  here  's  the  very  moral  of 
the  jest,  —  also  he  took  aboard  Sir  Christopher  Gardi 
ner  himself,  and  away  they  all  sailed  for  Sagadahoc. 
There,  what  think  you  of  that,  gossip  ?  " 

;'  I  think  Master  Thomas  Purchase  a  singularly  char 
itable  man,"  replied  Bradford  with  a  dry  smile.  "  But 
let  us  hope  that  Mary  Grove  convinced  him  that  she  was 
more  sinned  against  than  sinning,  and  had  not  done  the 
wrong  this  villain's  second  wife  imputed  to  her." 

"  Ay,  ay,  doubtless  you  as  a  church-member  are  bound 
to  find  some  such  way  out  of  the  thing ;  but  to  the  mind 
of  a  plain  old  sea-dog  like  Bill  Pierce  't  is  a  marvelous 
merry  tale,  with  no  moral  tacked  to  the  end  on  't." 

And  possibly  this  conversation  had  something  to  do 
with  the  fact  that  when  Thanksgiving  Day  came  round, 
Priscilla  Carpenter  became  the  wife  of  William  Wright. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

BETTY'S  JOURNEY  AND  THE  GARRETT  WRECK. 

"  BETTY,  child,  thou  'rt  not  well.  Thy  little  face  is  so 
peaked  and  pined  I  hardly  know  my  winsome  lassie. 
What  is  %  maiden  ?  " 

"Oh,  father,  I  don't  know"  — 

"  Nay,  don't  cry,  my  poppet !  Come  here  and  tell 
daddy  all  the  trouble." 

"  "Well,  father,  I  'in  so  tired  of  seeing  our  neighbors 
carried  up  the  hill,  and  I  'm  looking  for  them  to  carry 
us  too." 

"  What !  Here,  mother,  come  and  tell  me  what  our 
little  maid  may  mean.  She  says  she  's  tired  of  seeing 
our  neighbors  going  up  the  hill,  and  she  cries  as  if  her 
little  heart  would  break." 

The  mother  did  not  at  once  reply,  but,  laying  her 
hand  upon  the  child's  head  as  it  nestled  upon  her  fa 
ther's  breast,  she  looked  sadly  out  of  the  window,  and 
said,  "  We  had  better  have  stayed  over  at  Duxbury  an 
other  month,  John." 

"  Why,  so  we  would  have  done,  wife,  and  indeed  't  is 
a  loss  to  come  back  to  the  town  so  early  ;  but  you  know 
the  governor  desired  it,  because  in  so  much  sickness  our 
good  doctor  could  not  go  far  afield,  and  when  Jo  was 
taken  down  he  bade  me  bring  you  all  in.  Another  year, 
if  God  will,  I  mean  to  establish  our  home  for  winter  as 
well  as  summer  by  the  Bluefish.  But  what  about  the 


BETTY'S  JOURNEY.  197 

hill,  Betty  ? "  persisted  the  father.  "  Why  does  it 
daunt  thee  to  see  the  folk  go  up  the  hill  ?  " 

"  Because  they  're  dead,  father,  and  they  carry  them 
up  to  bury  them  !  "  cried  Betty  in  a  wild  burst  of  sobs  ; 
and  Priscilla,  nodding,  pointed  out  of  the  window  to  a 
little  procession  just  passing  the  house,  where  four  men 
bore  upon  a  rude  hand-bier  a  coffin  covered  with  a  black 
pall,  the  corners  held  by  four  younger  men.  Behind 
walked  a  score  or  so  of  mourners,  all  men,  with  long 
crape  scarfs  tied  around  their  hats.  No  clergyman  at 
tended,  for  religious  solemnities  at  funerals  were  studi 
ously  avoided  by  the  Separatists,  lest  haply  they  might 
seem  to  infringe  upon  the  hidden  councils  of  the  Al 
mighty  in  regard  to  souls  withdrawn  from  the  sphere  of 
human  influence.  A  gloomy  and  a  hopeless  affair  they 
made  of  death,  those  men  who  dreaded  popery  as  they 
did  Satan,  and  loved  John  Calvin,  recently  gone  to  test 
his  own  sunless  theories. 

"  Betty,  dear,"  exclaimed  the  mother  suddenly, 
"  there  's  little  Molly  crying  in  her  cradle -!  Run,  dear, 
and  hush  her,  and  sit  by  the  cradle  till  I  come." 

The  obedient  child  sprang  to  obey,  and  so  soon  as  she 
was  gone  Priscilla  softly  said,  — 

"'Tis  all  these  buryings,  John,  that  work  on  the 
child's  tender  heart,  and  she  heard  us  talking  last  night 
of  poor  Fear  Allerton's  passing.  'T  is  she  that 's  going 
up  the  hill  now  ;  and  see  !  they  've  got  Thomas  Prence 
and  Philip  De  la  Noye  and  Thomas  Cushman  and  John 
Faunce  for  pall-bearers,  and  Isaac  Allerton  and  the 
Elder  are  chief  mourners.  You  should  have  been  there, 
John,  for  Allerton  was  ship-fellow  with  us  in  the  May 
flower,  and  she  was  a  dear  gossip  of  mine  always." 

"  And  so  I  would  have  been  but  for  that  spike  run- 


198  BETTY  ALDEN. 

ning  into  my  foot  and  making  a  cripple  of  me,"  replied 
Alden  with  a  rueful  look  at  his  bandaged  foot. 

"  Shouldst  not  have  left  thy  harrow  lying  on  's  back 
with  its  teeth  grinning  up  to  the  sky,"  suggested  Pris- 
cilla  absently,  and  then  taking  from  the  mantelshelf  a 
bit  of  stick  and  a  sheath  knife  she  cut  a  notch  at  the 
end  of  a  long  line,  and  counting  said,  —  "  Eleven  on  my 
tally-stick  already,  and  some  of  the  best,  alas !  Peter 
Browne,  —  mind  you,  John,  how  he  and  Goodman 
roosted  in  a  tree  all  night  for  fear  of  the  '  lions,'  and 
ne'er  a  one  here  ?  And  Francis  Eaton,  he  's  gone,  and 
left  Christian  Penn  a  widow.  I  '11  warrant  me  she  '11 
go  back  to  the  governor's  kitchen.  Then  there  's  the 
captain's  two  little  boys.  Poor  Barbara  !  Truly  I  be 
lieve,  John,  of  the  hundred  Mayflowers  that  came  ashore 
there  's  not  a  score  left." 

"  There  's  two  and  twenty  of  us,  counting  them  who 
were  children,  like  Henry  Samson  and  Peregrine  White," 
said  John  sadly. 

4i  Ah,  you  Ve  kept  the  tally  in  your  head  better  than 
I  with  my  stick,"  said  Priscilla,  laying  it  aside.  "  And 
to  think  of  Pris  Carpenter,  widowed  almost  as  soon  as 
she  's  wed.  William  Wright  has  left  her  all  that  he 
had,  Alice  Bradford  says." 

"  Ay ;  and  glad  am  I  that  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner 
hath  gone  back  to  his  two  wives  in  England  before  she 
came  into  her  fair  estate." 

"  Nay,  Pris  would  not  have  looked  crosswise  at  him 
after  she  heard  the  story  Captain  Pierce  gave  the  gov 
ernor.  She  was  too  sound  a  maid  to  listen  to  any  such 
golightly  cavaliers  as  this  man  proved  himself.  But, 
John,  did  you  hear  of  the  will  that  Widow  Ring  has 
made,  and  tied  up  everything  on  her  boy  Andrew  ?  And 


BETTY'S  JOURNEY.  199 

there  's  Susanna  Clark  and  Betsey  Deane  been  the  best 
of  daughters,  and  tended  her  hand  and  foot,  and  she  as 
full  of  whims  as  an  egg  is  of  meat ;  and  when  she  'd  for 
very  shame'  sake  given  Susan  a  pair  of  pillows,  she  had 
to  tuck  in  that  Andrew  was  to  have  the  feathers  out  of 
'em.  Think  of  that  for  a  mother !  And  Susan  Clark, 
she  's  to  have  the  making  of  a  baby's  bearing-cloth  out 
of  a  piece  of  red  cloth  the  widow  had  laid  up,  and 
Betsey  Deane's  child,  she  's  to  have  the  rest  on 't.  And 
who 's  to  have  the  widow's  three  say  gowns,  one  of  green 
and  two  of  black,  I  mind  not,  but  all  Betty  told  me  of 
getting  was  one  ruffle  that  her  mother  bought  of  Good 
man  Gyles,  who  had  it  out  of  England  in  a  present,  and 
she  gave  him  four  shillings  for  it,  but "  — 

"  But  what 's  to  be  done  with  our  Betty  ?  "  calmly  in 
quired  John,  stemming  the  tide  of  his  wife's  eloquence, 
apparently  all  unconsciously. 

She,  standing  open-mouthed  for  a  moment,  looked  at 
him,  colored  a  little,  then  laughed,  and  nipping  his  arm 
retorted,  — 

"  What  's  to  be  done  with  our  goodman,  that 's  lost 
his  wits  as  well  as  lamed  his  foot  ?  Didst  not  know 
that  I  was  discoursing  of  Widow  Ring's  will  ?  " 

"  But  she  's  left  naught  to  us  that  I  've  heard,  nor  are 
we  even  called  to  distribute  her  goods  as  I  can  hear, 
so  were  it  not  the  part  of  wisdom  to  attend  to  our  own 
concerns  instead  of  hers,  good  wife  ?  " 

"  Well,  as  for  Betty,  the  child 's  growing  too  fast,  and 
mayhap  has  been  a  little  too  straitly  tied  at  home,  what 
with  little  Molly's  coming,  and  Jo's  fever,  and  the  rest. 
So  now  that  you  're  laid  up  from  work,  John,  why 
don't  you  take  her  up  to  Boston  in  the  governor's  boat 
that 's  set  to  go  two  days  from  now,  and  tarry  the  night 


200  BETTY  ALDEN. 

at  Parson  Wilson's,  as  he  so  kindly  asked  you  when  he 
was  down  here  with  Governor  Winthrop  and  his  folk  ? 
Marry  come  up,  't  was  a  good  supper  I  set  before  their 
high  mightinesses  that  night,  and  our  own  governor  did 
thank  me  kindly  for  so  pleasantly  entertaining  the  guests 
of  the  colony.  'T  was  a  better  supper  than  they  had  at 
the  Winslows'  or  the  Rowlands'  or  the  Allertons',  for  I 
know  all  about  it.  As  for  the  Standishes,  I  was  helping 
Barbara  all  day,  and  the  merit  of  that  feast  lay  between 
us,  but "  — 

"  And  dost  think  Mistress  Wilson  would  welcome  our 
little  maid  ?  " 

''Surely  she  would,  and  why  not?  You  '11  not  find 
our  Betty's  marrow  among  the  pick  of  the  Bay  maidens, 
not  forgetting  Master  Winthrop's  own ;  no,  nor  Simon 
Bradstreet's  Anne  that  you  were  so  taken  with  when  we 
went  up  to  see  Mistress  Winthrop." 

"  Then  if  you  '11  make  her  packet  ready  I  '11  see  the 
governor  about  the  boat,"  concluded  John,  carefully  put 
ting  his  wounded  foot  to  the  ground,  taking  a  cane  in 
each  hand,  and  hobbling  out  of  the  room,  just  as  the 
roll  of  a  muffled  drum  announced  the  death  of  Samuel 
Fuller,  the  much-prized  and  well-beloved  physician  of 
Plymouth,  deacon  of  her  church,  brother  by  marriage  to 
Bradford  and  Wright ;  the  constant  friend  of  his  towns 
men,  and  valued  by  many  an  one  in  the  new  settlements 
about  Boston  Bay.  Faithful  to  the  last,  he  had  attended 
the  sick-beds  of  those  who  were  only  a  trifle  worse  than 
himself,  until  of  a  sudden  he  succumbed,  and  died 
almost  before  his  friends  knew  that  he  was  ill.  Few 
deaths  could  have  been  more  deeply  felt  in  that  little 
colony,  and  few  were  noted  in  William  Bradford's 
diary  with  more  solemn  and  affectionate  feeling. 


THE  GARLETT  SHIPWRECK.  201 

But  before  the  doctor  was  laid  to  rest  in  his  nameless 
grave  on  Burying  Hill,  Betty  Alden,  full  of  delight, 
and  yet  soberly  attentive  to  her  mother's  last  charges, 
both  as  to  her  own  conduct  and  her  care  of  her  father's 
foot,  was  on  her  way  to  Boston,  where  she  saw  many 
new  faces  and  made  many  new  friends.  Of  one  of  these, 
a  girl  of  her  own  age  named  Christian  Garrett,  there  is 
more  to  tell,  for  so  close  was  the  friendship  springing 
up  between  herself  and  Betty,  and  so  good  and  com 
mendable  a  little  maid  did  Christian  prove  herself,  that 
John  Alden,  on  parting  with  Richard  Garrett,  the  father, 
cordially  invited  him  to  visit  Plymouth  at  some  near 
date  and  bring  his  little  girl  to  visit  Betty,  and  this  he 
promised  to  do. 

Why  the  luckless  man  should  have  selected  mid-win 
ter  for  this  expedition  no  man  now  can  say,  but  so  he 
did,  and  in  spite  of  urgent  warnings  sailed  from  what 
is  now  Long  Wharf  upon  a  bitter-cold  morning,  with  a 
north  wind  catching  the  crests  off  the  waves,  and  hurl 
ing  them  in  needlepoints  of  ice  in  the  teeth  of  the 
doomed  company  whom  Richard  Garrett  had  persuaded 
to  accompany  him.  One  of  these,  named  Henry  Har- 
wood,  was  a  passenger,  and  the  other  three  were  Gar- 
rett's  hired  servants.  As  the  day  wore  on,  the  wind 
freshened,  working  round  to  the  northwest,  so  that 
arriving  toward  night  off  the  Gurnet  the  exhausted 
men  thought  best  to  anchor  until  morning.  The  killock, 
a  rude  anchor  consisting  simply  of  a  stone  bound  in 
a  network  of  rope,  was  thrown  over  in  twenty  fathoms 
of  water,  and  not  resting  upon  the  bottom  the  stone 
soon  worked  out  of  the  rope,  and  left  the  boat  to  drive. 
No  lighthouse  upon  the  Gurnet,  no  beacon  upon  the 
beach,  then  protected  the  mariner  of  Plymouth  Bay,  and 


202  BETTY  ALDEN. 

as  the  horror  of  thick  darkness  fell  upon  the  scene,  and 
the  boat  flew  before  the  wind  which  now  came  laden 
with  sleet,  freezing  as  it  fell,  Garrett  exclaimed,  — 

"  Now  may  the  Lord  have  mercy  upon  our  sinful 
souls,  and  forgive  me  that  has  brought  my  motherless 
child  here  to  die !  " 

"  And  more  than  that,  Richard  Garrett,  you  that  have 
involved  us  in  the  same  disaster,"  replied  Harwood  an 
grily.  "  Do  you  suppose,  man,  I  would  have  adventured 
with  you  and  paid  my  two  shilling  for  a  passage,  had  I 
known  what  manner  of  shallop  this  is,  and  nothing  but 
a  stone  and  a  rope  for  killock  ?  " 

"  Peace,  man !  "  retorted  Garrett  sternly.  "  How 
dare  you  go  before  your  Judge  with  revilings  in  your 
mouth !  Get  you  to  your  prayers,  or  be  silent." 

"  Father,  the  water  freezes  around  my  feet !  "  moaned 
Christian,  nestling  close  to  his  side  in  the  darkness. 

"  My  poor  little  maid  !  Here,  sit  on  my  knees  and 
I  '11  lap  thee  in  my  cloak !  " 

"  Nay,  thou  'It  take  it  from  thyself,  daddy,"  remon 
strated  the  child ;  but  the  father  had  his  way,  and  all 
through  that  cruel  night  sheltered  the  little  maid  upon 
his  knees  and  under  his  cloak,  while  his  own  feet  first 
ached  bitterly,  and  then  grew  numb,  and  then  died. 

"  Let  us  pray !  "  cried  a  voice  from  the  forward  part 
of  the  boat,  and,  mingled  with  the  howling  of  the  storm, 
the  hissing  of  the  brine  as  it  rushed  savagely  past  the 
wreck,  and  the  rattling  of  the  frozen  rigging,  there  rose 
upon  the  midnight  air  one  of  those  stern,  strong,  abject 
yet  self-assertive  prayers  that  the  Puritans  were  wont  to 
address  to  their  vindictive  and  implacable  Deity ;  con 
fessing  their  own  enormity  of  sin,  yet  beseeching  Him 
to  forego  his  rightful  vengeance  and  to  lift  his  scourge 


THE  GAERETT  SHIPWRECK.  203 

from  their  backs  because  his  Son  had  already  borne  the 
penalty  of  their  sins,  and  suffered  to  appease  the  Fa 
ther's  annihilating  wrath. 

The  prayer  was  strong  and  eloquent  after  its  own 
rugged  fashion,  and  as  the  hearers  breathed  "  A-men  " 
they  felt  that  their  chances  were  better  than  before,  and 
were  not  surprised  when,  as  morning  broke,  the  low 
line  of  Cape  Cod  lay  before  them,  and  the  sail,  partially 
blown  from  the  gaskets,  filled  just  enough  to  carry  them 
gently  upon  the  shallow  beach. 

"  We  are  saved  !  "  exclaimed  Harwood,  staggering  to 
his  feet  and  clinging  to  the  mast.  "  Come,  men,  tumble 
over  and  wade  ashore !  We  can  be  no  wetter  than  we 
are." 

As  he  spoke  he  stepped  over  the  gunwale  into  water 
almost  up  to  his  middle  and  turned  shoreward,  but  Gar- 
rett  cried  to  him,  — 

"  Hold,  man,  if  you  have  a  heart  of  flesh  and  not  of 
stone  !  Take  my  child  out  of  my  arms  and  carry  her 
ashore,  for  I  am  utterly  spent.  I  shall  never  reach  that 
land." 

"  Give  her  to  me,  then,  some  of  you,"  replied  Har 
wood  grudgingly.  "  I  know  not  if  I  can  hold  her  in  my 
numbed  arms,  but  I  '11  try  it,  though  she  never  should 
have  been  here." 

"  Tut !  Prut !  Master  Harwood !  "  retorted  Joseph 
Pierce,  Garrett's  foreman.  "  None  but  a  sour  temper 
would  flout  the  master  with  his  misfortunes  just  now  ! 
I  'd  carry  little  mistress  myself  and  spare  you  the 
trouble,  but  my  feet  are  froze  fast  into  the  wash  at  the 
bottom  of  the  boat." 

"  And  so  are  mine  !  "  exclaimed  another,  making  inef 
fectual  efforts  to  release  himself  from  his  icy  bonds. 


204  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  And  I  know  not  if  I  have  feet  or  not,"  added  Gar- 
rett  drowsily.  "  But  I  beseech  you,  men,  to  care  for 
my  little  maid." 

"  Be  sure  we  will,  master,"  replied  Pierce  cheerily. 
"  Here,  Brastow,  give  me  that  hatchet  to  cut  away  the 
ice  from  my  feet ;  but  no,  first  help  Mistress  Christian 
over  the  side.  Now,  then,  Harwood,  take  her,  and  God's 
blessing  if  you  get  her  safe  ashore.  Have  you  a  hold  ? 
Put  your  arms  round  his  neck,  there 's  a  brave  maid. 
Now  hold  fast." 

No  sooner  was  Harwood  off  than  the  others  began  to 
move,  and  although  Garrett  himself  only  reached  the 
shore  by  the  help  of  two  men,  and  at  once  fell  down 
never  to  rise  again,  all  at  Jength  stood  upon  the  barren 
and  shelterless  sand-bank,  at  that  point  running  down 
from  the  scrub  forest  to  the  water,  and  looked  around 
them  in  dismay.  Garrett,  the  leader  of  the  expedition, 
was  evidently  dying,  and  one  of  his  men  was  in  scarce 
better  case.  Harwood  and  Pierce,  the  strongest  of 
those  who  remained,  yet  hardly  able  to  bestir  them 
selves,  gathered  some  sticks  and  lighted  a  fire,  but  for 
want  of  a  hatchet  could  not  cut  any  substantial  fuel. 
"  We  must  e'en  wade  it  again  to  the  boat,  and  fetch 
off  some  victual,  the  hatchet,  and  some  rugs,  if  nothing 
more,"  declared  Pierce,  when  the  fire  had  a  little  re 
vived  his  chilled  frame  and  flagging  spirit ;  and  Har 
wood  gloomily  acquiescing,  the  two  once  more  made 
their  perilous  journey,  and  so  loaded  themselves  that  the 
hatchet,  most  precious  item  of  all  he  carried,  dropped 
from  Pierce's  numbed  fingers  and  fell  somewhere  among 
the  rocks  upon  which  the  boat  had  now  drifted.  To 
find  it  was  impossible,  and  to  stay  longer  in  the  freez 
ing  and  rising  water  was  as  impossible,  so  the  two 


THE  GARRETT  SHIPWRECK.  205 

were  fain  to  stagger  ashore,  and  fall  with  their  burdens 
upon  their  backs  beside  the  fire,  where  their  companions 
lay  mutely  regarding  them  with  the  apathy  of  dying 
men. 

The  day  passed,  and  the  night,  those  who  survived 
could  never  quite  tell  how,  but  in  the  morning  Joseph 
Pierce  and  Thomas  Barstow  set  out  to  walk  toward 
Plymouth,  lying  as  they  supposed  some  six  or  seven 
miles  to  the  westward,  but  in  reality  about  fifty.  Sev 
eral  miles  on  their  journey  these  two  encountered  two 
Indian  women,  who  ran  away  from  them,  but  carried 
intelligence  of  the  encounter  to  their  husbands,  en 
camped  near  at  hand. 

And  now  Plymouth's  just  and  generous  policy  toward 
the  Indians  bore  fruit.  The  savages  both  loved  and 
feared  the  white  men  of  the  Old  Colony  ;  they  knew 
that  kindness  would  be  rewarded,  and  offenses  surely 
punished  ;  so  acting  accordingly,  they  hastened  to  over 
take  the  footsore  wanderers,  and  discovering  whither 
they  would  go,  one  of  the  Indians  went  forward  as  their 
guide,  while  the  other  turned  back  to  the  camp,  where 
beside  the  last  embers  of  a  fire  lay  the  lifeless  body  of 
Garrett,  his  child  crouching  beside  him,  dazed  and  dumb 
with  cold  and  terror.  At  the  other  side  of  the  exhausted 
fire  lay  Harwood  and  the  other  man,  only  half  con 
scious,  and  quite  unable  to  move  or  to  help  themselves. 
The  Indian,  making  the  most  of  his  few  words  of  Eng 
lish,  stopped  only  to  promise  help  and  to  assure  the  suf 
ferers  that  their  comrades  were  safe,  and  then  sped 
away  to  his  wigwam,  whence  he  presently  returned  laden 
with  rugs,  a  hatchet,  and  some  sort  of  reviving  draught 
which  he  heated  over  the  renewed  fire,  and  administered 
to  each  in  turn.  Then,  covering  them  warmly,  he  cut 


206  BETTY  ALDEN. 

saplings,  pointed  them,  and  built  a  hut  over  the  prostrate 
bodies  of  the  sufferers.  Last  of  all  he  hewed  a  grave  in 
the  frozen  soil  with  his  hatchet,  and  respectfully  raising 
Richard  Garrett's  dead  body  in  his  arms  laid  it  to  rest, 
carefully  crumbling  the  soil  to  cover  it,  and  raising  a 
cairn  of  stones  and  brushwood  to  protect  it  from  the 
beasts  of  prey  then  prowling  up  and  down  the  waste  of 
Cape  Cod. 

As  the  warmth  increased,  however,  the  apathy  of  the 
frozen  men  turned  to  anguish  and  torture,  and  Harwood, 
dragging  himself  out  of  the  hut,  had  the  resolution  to 
thaw  his  feet  in  the  water  of  a  neighboring  pool,  and  so 
kept  life  in  theft*;  but  his  companion,  too  far  gone,  re 
mained  by  the  fire,  and  when  the  pain  was  eased  died, 
so  that  Harwood  and  the  little  girl  remained  alone  with 
the  Indian. 

The  two  men  who  had  gone  toward  Plymouth  were  no 
more  fortunate.  One  died  upon  the  road  ;  the  other  so 
soon  as  he  had  told  his  piteous  story  to  Bradford  and 
the  rest  who  ministered  to  him  so  tenderly,  yet  could  do 
nothing  to  detain  him.  Within  the  hour  a  boat  well 
manned,  and  carrying  the  Indian  for  guide,  was  on  its 
way  to  the  scene  of  the  disaster,  and  the  next  day  re 
turned,  bringing  Christian  Garrett,  Henry  Harwood,  the 
body  of  their  comrade,  and  the  Indian  who  had  so  faith 
fully  cared  for  them,  and  whom  Bradford  liberally  re 
warded  and  praised  for  his  benevolence. 

Harwood  was  billeted  upon  Stephen  Hopkins,  but 
Betty  Alden  pleaded  with  her  parents  that  Christian  Gar 
rett  might  come  to  their  house  and  be  her  own  especial 
charge ;  and  this  boon  being  easily  granted,  the  spare- 
room  where  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner  had  wearied  and 
plotted  became  the  happy  abiding-place  of  these  two 


THE  GARRETT  SHIPWRECK.  207 

innocent  young  creatures,  the  one  so  active  and  helpful, 
the  other  so  languid  and  so  sorrowful,  and  yet  both  of 
them  the  happier  and  the  better  for  their  companion 
ship. 

When  the  spring  had  come,  Harwood,  with  a  good 
crew  of  Plymouth  men  to  help  him,  attempted  to  sail 
Garrett's  boat  up  to  Boston,  but  caught  in  a  wild  spring 
storm  was  nearly  wrecked  again  ;  and  with  some  strange 
gloomy  idea  of  having  suffered  from  his  association  with 
Garrett  he  sued  his  estate  for  damages,  and  actually 
recovered  twenty  nobles,  or  about  thirty-three  dollars, 
which  was  duly  paid  to  him  out  of  the  pittance  left  to 
Christian,  who,  although  she  went  back  to  Boston  and 
the  care  of  an  aunt,  never  ceased  to  be  one  of  Betty's 
dearest  and  most  intimate  friends. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

"  AH,  BROTHER  OLDHAME,  IS  IT  THOU  !  " 

IT  was  a  day  in  June,  one  of  those  lovely,  nay,  perfect 
days  when  heaven  appears  at  once  nearer  and  farther 
off  than  ever  before  :  nearer,  for  we  seem  already  to 
taste  its  delights  ;  farther  off,  because  earth  has  sud 
denly  become  so  satisfying  that  we  ask  for  nothing  bet 
ter. 

A  little  southwest  breeze  loitered  over  Burying  Hill, 
stirring  the  long  grasses,  wooing  sweet  kisses  and  in 
cense  from  the  balm  o'  Gilead  trees,  and  finally  floated 
down  The  Hill,  past  the  closed  and  deserted  homes  of 
Stanclish  and  Alden  to  the  governor's  house,  grown 
wide  and  stately  in  these  days,  boasting  two  parlors  be 
sides  the  great  common  room,  and  furthermore  a  recent 
extension  toward  The  Hill  consisting  of  one  wide  low 
room  with  an  outside  door  and  a  loft  overhead.  This 
was  the  governor's  study  or  office,  where  he  kept  his 
books  and  papers  and  transacted  the  colony's  business. 
More  than  this,  in  the  large  closet  and  in  the  loft  over 
head  were  stored  the  colony's  goods,  both  the  peltrie  for 
export,  and  the  shoes,  textile  fabrics,  and  other  matters 
which  were  brought  back  from  England  in  exchange ; 
and  as  every  man  or  woman  who  had  obtained  a  beaver, 
or  mink,  or  otter  skin  brought  it  to  the  governor  and 
asked  him  to  send  to  England  for  a  pair  of  shoes,  a 
new  doublet  or  kirtle,  pewter  platter,  or  horn  comb,  the 


AH,  BROTHER  OLDHAME,  IS  IT  THOU!    209 

adjusting  these  accounts,  and  remembering  every  one's 
wishes  and  instructions,  consumed  so  large  a  part  of  the 
gubernatorial  time  that  one  cannot  wonder  that  now  and 
again  Bradford  "  by  importunity  gat  off  "  from  reelec 
tion,  especially  as  his  services  were  altogether  gratuitous, 
and  must  have  interfered  with  the  necessity  of  living, 
pressing  not  only  upon  every  man  individually,  but  on 
husbands  and  fathers  very  imperatively.  The  casement 
window  of  the  study  was  swung  open  to  the  soft  June 
air,  and  the  little  breeze,  peeping  in,  shrank  back  dis 
mayed,  yet,  mustering  the  courage  of  a  petted  child, 
gathered  a  handful  of  perfume  from  Alice  Bradford's 
bed  of  early  pinks  close  at  hand,  flung  it  in  at  the  open 
window,  and  then,  laughing  softly,  flew  round  the  corner 
and  in  at  another  casement,  where  Alice  herself  sat  em 
broidering  in  green  crewels  the  cover  of  a  stool,  and 
talking  softly  to  her  daughter  Mercy,  Desire  Howland, 
and  Betty  Alden,  who  sat  demure  as  kittens  on  three 
crickets,  stitching  fine  seams  or  embroidering  muslin  or 
silk  under  Dame  Bradford's  skillful  tuition  ;  for  among 
the  fair  memories  this  gracious  woman  left  behind  her, 
none  seem  fairer  than  her  attention  and  kindly  offices 
toward  the  young  maids  of  the  town. 

A  very  different  group  was  that  at  which  the  naughty 
breeze  had  peeped  and  flung  perfume  behind  the  swing 
ing  casement  of  the  study  :  a  group  of  men,  mature  and 
austere,  as  the  fathers  of  unruly  families  are  apt  to  be 
come  by  the  time  the  children  wish  to  leave  home  and 
set  up  for  themselves. 

At  the  head  of  the  old  oak  table  with  its  twisted  legs 
and  lion's  claw-feet  sat  William  Bradford,  his  cheek 
resting  on  his  left  hand,  while  with  the  right  he  drew 
idle  lines  or  figures  upon  a  sheet  of  coarse  paper.  An 


210  BETTY  ALDEN. 

inkstand  hollowed  from  a  square  block  of  ebony  stood 
before  him,  bristling  with  a  thicket  of  quill  pens  stand 
ing  in  the  sockets  bored  around  the  edge,  and  the  Rec 
ord  Book  of  the  colony,  that  same  yellow  and  tattered 
book  we  reverently  handle  to-day,  lay  open  beside  it. 
Some  papers  and  slips  of  parchment  were  scattered  over 
the  board,  and  one  lay  under  Winslow's  hand  as  he 
turned  to  speak  to  Myles  Standish,  whose  flushed  face 
and  wrathful  eyes  showed  that  his  hasty  temper  was 
stirred  more  than  was  its  wont,  now  that  Time  had  set 
his  half-century  mark  upon  the  thinning  hair  and  lined 
features. 

Next  to  Standish  sat  Timothy  Hatherley,  his  intimate 
friend  and  future  executor,  and  opposite  them  were 
Thomas  Prence,  and  John  Jenney  the  miller,  a  man  of 
substance  and  position,  and  father  of  two  very  pretty 
daughters.  These  five  were  the  governor's  assistants 
for  the  year,  and  to  them,  on  this  morning,  was  added 
the  venerable  presence  of  Elder  Brewster,  who,  sitting  at 
the  foot  of  the  table,  and  fixing  his  wintry  blue  eyes 
upon  each  speaker  in  succession,  seemed  to  act  as  coun 
terpoise  and  moderator  to  the  more  vehement  moods  of 
the  younger  men.  A  venerable  figure  truly,  for  the  three 
score  and  ten  years  of  the  promise  were  more  than  run 
out,  and  yet  a  form  and  face  full  of  life  and  strength, 
and  with  a  cleanly  freshness  of  complexion  and  eye  be 
tokening  a  simple  and  abstemious  life,  enjoyed  in  fresh 
air  and  with  moderate  labor.  Upon  this  reassuring  face 
the  eyes  of  the  governor  rested  almost  yearningly,  as  he 
listened  to  the  captain's  fiery  words  :  — 

"  Yes,  sirs,  the  Bay  Colony  and  their  friends  have 
brought  themselves  into  the  mire  by  their  own  blunder 
ing,  and  now  cry  to  Plymouth,  '  Good  Lord,  deliver 


AH,  BEOTHEE  OLDHAME,  IS  IT  THOU!     211 

us  ! '  Whose  fault  is  it  that  the  Pequots  are  risen  upon 
them?  " 

"  They  have  murdered  John  Oldhame,  I  tell  you, 
Captain  !  "  exclaimed  Winslow  impatiently.  "  Will  you 
listen  while  I  read  Governor  Winthrop's  letter  ?  " 

"Yes,  Captain  Standish,  I  pray  you  to  listen,  and 
allow  us  to  do  so,"  added  Prence  in  so  peremptory  a 
tone  that  the  old  soldier  turned  hotly  upon  him  :  — 

"  Thomas  Prence,  they  say  you  are  a  dabster  at  han 
dling  the  Bible  in  prayer-meetings  and  prophesyings ;  do 
you  remember  how  King  Rehoboam  took  counsel  as  to 
his  dealings  with  the  oppressed  people  of  his  realm,  and 
the  old  men  said,  '  Deal  softly  and  kindly  with  thy  ser 
vants  and  they  will  remain  thy  servants  for  aye ; '  but 
with  the  folly  of  youth,  Rehoboam  turned  to  men  with 
their  beards  still  in  the  silk,  and  said,  '  How  shall  I 
answer  this  people  ? '  and  they  gave  their  counsel : 
1  Whereas  thy  father  hath  beaten  them  with  whips,  thou 
shalt  scourge  them  with  scorpions,  and  if  thy  father's 
yoke  was  heavy  upon  their  necks,  thou  shalt  add  to  it 
until  they  sink  under  it.'  The  boy  king  listened  to  his 
boy  counselors,  and  the  result  was  that  ten  tribes  of  — 
Pequots,  we  will  call  them,  became  his  bloody  foes  in 
stead  of  his  cheerful  servitors.  We  of  Plymouth  have 
held  the  whip  behind  our  backs  "  — 

"  Yet  brought  it  forward  at  Wessagusset,"  inter 
rupted  Prence  good-humoredly,  and  in  the  moment  of 
not  displeased  silence  on  Standish's  part,  Bradford  hur 
riedly  interposed,  — 

"  Nay,  Captain,  let  us  hear  the  letter  before  we  dis 
cuss  this  matter  further." 

"  So  be  it,  Governor  ;  but  naught  that  Master  Win- 
throp  can  pen  or  Master  Winslow  read,  clever  craftsmen 


212  BETTY  ALDEN. 

though  they  be,  will  fetch  my  consent  to  this  wholesale 
slaughter  of  the  Indians,  Pequots,  Narragansetts,  or 
Pokanokets." 

"  Will  you  read,  Master  Winslow  ?  "  asked  the  gov 
ernor  in  a  patient  voice,  and,  rather  hastily,  as  if  fore 
stalling  farther  discussion,  Winslow  proceeded  to  read 
aloud  the  missive  of  the  governor  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  who  after  certain  grave  greetings  proceeded  to 
tell  the  story,  which  we  will  enlarge  a  little  from  other 
sources,  of  how  one  John  Gallop,  founder  of  the  guild 
of  Boston  pilots,  and  occupant  of  the  island  bearing  his 
name  in  Boston  Harbor,  while  trading  to  the  plantation 
of  Saybrooke  in  the  Connecticut  Colony,  had  been 
attracted  by  the  strange  manoauvres  of  a  pinnace  lying 
to  off  Block  Island,  and  running  in  that  direction  recog 
nized  her  as  belonging  to  John  Oldhame,  late  of  Water- 
town,  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  who  had,  about  a 
week  before,  left  Boston  upon  a  trading  tour,  his  crew 
consisting  only  of  two  English  lads,  his  kinsmen,  and  two 
Narragansett  Indians. 

"  John  Oldhame  must  be  very  drunk  to  let  his  craft 
yaw  about  in  that  fashion,"  commented  Gallop,  watching 
the  bark  ;  and  his  sons,  John  and  James,  boys  of  twelve 
and  fourteen,  and  Zebedee  Palmer,  his  hired  man,  who 
composed  the  entire  ship's  company,  dutifully  assented. 
Zebedee  suggesting  that  in  the  cold  March  wind  then 
blowing  he  should  not  himself  object  to  a  drop  of  some 
thing  comfortable. 

"  When  is  the  day  you  would,  Zeb  ?  "  inquired 
his  master.  "  But  lo  you  now  !  There  goes  a  canoe  from 
the  pinnace  to  the  shore  heavy  laden,  and  manned  only 
by  redskins.  Be  sure  there 's  some  Indian  deviltry 
going  on,  and  though  the  wind  be  contrary  we  will 
beat  down  and  hail  her." 


AH,  BROTHER   OLDHAME,  IS  IT  THOU!      213 

But  arrived  within  hailing  distance,  Gallop  perceived 
the  deck  of  the  pinnace  to  be  crowded  with  savages, 
who,  so  far  from  returning  his  hail,  at  once  dropped 
their  occupation  of  loading  another  canoe,  and  proceeded 
to  make  sail  in  so  clumsy  a  fashion  that  the  pilot's  fears 
of  the  pinnace  having  been  seized  by  Indians  were  re 
duced  to  certainty,  and  putting  his  own  bark  before  the 
wind  blowing  off  the  land  he  pursued  the  captured  craft, 
now  driving  wildly  toward  the  Narragansett  shore. 
Bringing  up  the  two  guns  and  two  pistols  comprising 
his  entire  armament,  Gallop  charged  them  with  the 
duckshot  he  had  brought  along  for  purposes  of  sport, 
and  so  soon  as  they  came  within  range  began  firing 
with  no  farther  formalities  into  the  dense  throng  of 
Indians,  who  on  their  part  stood  armed  with  guns,  pikes, 
and  swords,  and  as  Gallop's  bark  drew  near  fired  a 
scattering  volley,  happily  of  no  effect ;  and  then,  as  the 
incessant  rain  of  duckshot  —  for  the  two  boys  loaded  as 
fast  as  their  father  fired  —  became  intolerable,  they  all 
fled  below  hatches,  leaving  the  vessel  to  drift  as  she 
would.  Seeing  this,  the  pilot  hit  upon  a  new  method 
of  attack,  and  standing  off  a  little  he  set  his  craft  dead 
before  the  wind,  now  blowing  half  a  gale,  and  com 
ing  down  with  full  force  upon  the  pinnace  "  stemmed 
her  upon  the  quarter,"  as  Winthrop  has  it,  "  and  almost 
overset  her.  This  so  frighted  the  Indians  that  five  or 
six  ran  on  deck,  and  leaping  overboard  were  drowned." 
Encouraged  by  this  beginning,  the  pilot  repeated  his 
manoeuvre,  only  this  time  so  fitting  his  anchor  to  the 
heel  of  his  bowsprit  as  to  make  a  very  good  imitation 
of  an  iron-clad  ram  ;  then  again  striking  the  pinnace  he 
crushed  in  her  forward  bulwarks,  and  sticking  fast,  be 
gan  pouring  in  charges  of  his  heaviest  shot  at  such  short 


214  BETTY  ALDEN. 

range  that  they  penetrated  decks  and  sheathing,  and 
reached  the  pirates  skulking  below.  Finding  that  they 
refused  to  be  driven  out,  and  his  two  guns  growing  too 
warm  to  work,  Gallop  disengaged  his  anchor  and  again 
stood  off  ;  but  this  was  enough,  and  five  more  Indians 
rushed  up  and  threw  themselves  into  the  sea,  preferring 
a  death  they  well  understood,  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
a  man  who  fought  in  such  unknown  fashions. 

There  being  now  but  four  of  the  savages  left,  Gallop 
boarded  the  pinnace,  whereupon  one  of  the  survivors 
yielded,  and  was  bound  and  stowed  in  the  cabin  for 
safe-keeping ;  another  yielded,  but  leaving  Zebedee  to 
bind  him  the  pilot  dragged  away  a  seine  huddled  in  the 
stern  sheets  under  which  he  had  from  his  own  deck  per 
ceived  some  horror  to  be  hidden.  It  was  the  body  of 
a  white  man,  still  warm,  the  head  cleft,  the  hands  and 
feet  nearly  cut  off,  and  the  face  so  covered  with  blood 
as  to  be  unrecognizable,  until  Gallop,  dipping  one  of  the 
garments  stripped  off  but  lying  near,  into  the  salt  water 
flooding  the  decks,  washed  it  and  put  aside  the  long 
hair ;  then  gazing  down  into  the  staring  eyes,  he  said 
as  if  in  answer  to  their  piteous  appeal,  "Ah,  Brother 
Oldhame,  is  it  thou  !  Truly  I  am  resolved  to  avenge 
thy  blood  !  "  And,  while  Zebedee  managed  as  best  he 
could  to  fasten  a  tow-rope  to  the  pinnace  and  make  sail 
upon  the  bark,  and  John  and  James,  pistol  in  hand, 
watched  the  hatches  in  case  the  Indians  below  should 
make  a  sortie,  the  pilot  bound  the  mangled  body  of  his 
friend  in  its  clothes  and  in  the  private  ensign  lying 
at  the  foot  of  the  mast,  and  launched  it  overboard. 

"  This  man  is  wriggling  his  hands  free,  father,"  re 
ported  John  Gallop,  presenting  his  pistol  at  the  last 
captive,  a  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts  arid  a  very 
determined  fellow. 


AH,  BROTHER  OLVHAME,  IS  IT  THOU!      215 

"  Say  you  so,  Jack !  "  replied  his  father,  turning  back 
from  the  bulwark  over  which  he  had  just  reverently 
dropped  the  shrouded  form  of  his  murdered  friend. 
"  We  '11  take  no  chances !  Lift  you  his  feet  and  I  his 
head  and  we  '11  put  him  in  John  Oldhame's  keeping.  Jim, 
stand  you  to  your  watch  till  our  hands  are  free."  And  the 
sachem,  stolid  and  silent  now  that  the  worst  had  come, 
went  to  rejoin  his  comrades.  Two  of  the  pirates  re 
mained  below,  but  as  they  were  armed  and  entrenched 
in  the  hold  Gallop  left  them  there  as  prisoners,  although 
the  night  coming  on  and  the  sea  and  wind  growing  very 
violent,  he  was  after  a  time  compelled  to  cast  off  the 
pinnace,  which  drove  ashore  on  the  Narragansett  coast. 

Arriving  in  Boston,  Gallop  at  once  placed  the  matter 
in  the  hands  of  the  government,  who  through  Roger 
Williams  and  Miantonimo  demanded  the  surrender  of 
the  murderers  who  had  come  safely  ashore  in  the  pin 
nace.  In  the  end,  Oldhame's  two  cousins,  who  had  been 
kept  prisoners  at  Block  Island,  were  safely  returned,  and 
some  of  the  stolen  goods  ;  but  tedious  negotiations  re 
vealed  the  fact  that  nearly  all  the  Narragansett  sachems 
bad  been  privy  to  the  conspiracy,  and  that  some  of  them 
were  in  alliance  with  the  Pequots  to  cut  off  the  Eng 
lish  and  resume  the  country  only  sixteen  years  before 
absolutely  their  own.  Not  unnaturally  alarmed  at  this 
report,  Governor  Vane  and  his  council  resolved  upon 
what  they  at  first  called  reprisals,  but  which  soon  be 
came  a  stern  scheme  of  extermination  involving  the 
entire  Pequot  nation,  and  such  of  the  Narragansetts 
as  refused  to  become  tributaries  and  subjects  of  the 
English. 

The  murder  of  Captain  Stone,  the  death  by  torture  of 
Butterfield,  and  John  Tilley  and  his  man,  came  into  the 


216  BETTY  ALDEN. 

account  and  gave  the  air  of  righteous  retribution  to  the 
Puritan  severities  ;  but  the  wrongs  of  the  Indians,  their 
natural  temperament,  their  standard  of  morality,  their 
ignorance  of  the  gracious  influences  of  Christianity,  — 
none  of  these  seem  to  have  been  considered  or  weighed 
in  the  councils  of  Vane  and  his  associates,  although  more 
liberal  Plymouth  had  set  them  the  example  of  making 
friends  rather  than  enemies  of  a  people  who  had  surely 
great  cause  of  complaint  in  the  loss  of  their  homes  and 
rights,  and  who  simply  sought  to  defend  themselves  ac 
cording  to  their  traditional  methods. 

It  was  in  pursuance  of  this  resolve  that  Winthrop, 
acting  this  year  as  deputy  to  Governor  Vane,  had  writ 
ten  to  Plymouth,  setting  forth  all  the  causes  of  the  war 
already  begun,  and  requesting  of  Plymouth  that  aid  and 
cooperation  which  one  colony  of  white  men  and  Chris 
tians  would  naturally  afford  to  another. 

The  letter  was  read  and  laid  upon  the  council  board, 
and  Bradford  in  his  own  grave,  thoughtful,  and  well- 
considered  manner  took  up  the  word  :  — 

"  Doubtless,  brethren,  we  must  find  that  there  hath 
been  much  provocation  offered  to  these  Pequens  and 
Narraganseds.  We  know  somewhat  of  John  Old- 
hame  "  — 

"  And  naught  that  's  good,"  muttered  Standish  in  his 
red  beard. 

—  "  and  we  may  be  sure  there  was  cause  of  complaint 
on  the  part  of  the  Block  Islanders  before  they  so  as 
saulted  him.  Jonathan  Brewster  hath  held  our  post  on 
the  Connecticut  River  —  Windsor,  as  the  settlers  from 
the  Bay  have  named  the  place  —  for  some  four  years 
now,  and  there  has  been  no  trouble  worth  the  men 
tion  "  — 


AH,  BEOTHEE  OLDHAME,  IS  IT  THOU!      217 

"  Save  when  the  Narragansetts  chased  our  friend 
Massasoit  into  the  trading-house  at  Sowams,  and  I  sent 
a  runner  for  powder,  but  the  enemy  ran  faster  the  other 
way  than  he,"  put  in  Standish.  "  And  mind  you,  though 
John  Winthrop  let  us  have  the  powder  out  of  his  pri 
vate  store,  that  sour-visaged  Dudley  hauled  him  over  the 
coals  for  it.  Ever  niggardly  and  domineering  is  the 
Bay,  and  my  counsel  is,  let  them  fight  out  their  own 
battles  for  themselves.  When  Plymouth  has  cause  to 
complain  of  the  savages,  Pequens  or  who  you  please, 
I  '11  lead  a  handful  of  Plymouth  men  out  to  give  them 
a  lesson,  and  till  then  I  say  let-a-be.  You  have  my 
counsel,  Governor." 

"  And  mine  jumps  with  it,  sir,"  added  John  Jenney 
heartily,  but  Winslow  shook  his  head  thoughtfully. 

"  It  were  but  poor  policy  for  us  to  fall  out  with  our 
brethren  of  the  Bay,  seeing  that  they  are  so  much 
stronger  than  we,  and  it  may  well  chance  that  we  shall 
need  their  countenance  in  some  quarrel "  — 

"  Like  that  of  Kennebec  when  we  called  upon  them 
to  help  us  (Jpive  out  the  Frenchmen  who  had  seized  our 
post,  and  they  did  most  civilly  decline,"  suggested 
Standish,  and  Prence  added,  — 

"  Ay,  that  was  but  a  scurvy  trick  they  played  us 
then." 

And  so  the  council  went  on,  debating  the  question 
warmly,  and  yet  with  a  brotherly  love  and  harmony 
covering  all  differences,  until  in  the  end  it  was  resolved 
that  Winslow  the  diplomatist  should  be  sent  as  envoy  to 
Boston  to  declare  in  the  first  place  the  willingness  of 
Plymouth  to  help  her  younger  but  more  powerful  sister 
against  the  common  foe,  yet  at  the  same  time  bringing 
forward  various  causes  of  complaint  as  yet  unredressed, 


218  BETTY  ALDEN. 

and  demanding  more  consideration  in  the  future.  These 
complaints  were,  first,  the  refusal  of  the  Bay  govern 
ment  to  help  Plymouth  against  the  French  who  had 
seized  her  trading-post  at  Kennebec ;  second,  their 
allowing  their  people  to  fraternize  and  trade  with  the 
usurpers  ;  third,  the  insult  and  injury  done  to  the  Pil 
grims  at  Windsor  in  Connecticut,  where  a  great  body 
of  people  from  Watertown  and  Cambridge  had  swooped 
down  upon  the  land  bought  by  Plymouth  from  the 
Indians,  and  occupied  by  them  as  a  trading-post,  retain 
ing  forcible  possession  of  it,  and  encouraged  by  the 
Bay  to  do  so. 

To  these  three  unredressed  complaints  Win  slow  was 
to  add  a  reminder  of  the  fact;  seldom  forgotten  by  the 
Bay  Colony,  that  they  were  much  more  numerous  and 
much  more  wealthy  than  Plymouth,  and  apparently 
quite  able  to  conduct  their  own  quarrel  through  their 
own  resources.  For,  as  the  envoy  was  especially  di 
rected  to  say,  the  Colony  of  Plymouth  had  hitherto 
lived  at  peace  with  the  aborigines,  and  had  no  com 
plaint  to  make  of  either  the  Pequots  or  any  other  tribe. 

And  now,  this  matter  arranged  for  the  moment, 
although  much  further  trouble  was  to  come  of  it,  the 
Court  turned  its  attention  to  a  subject  so  much  more 
personal,  and  near  to  their  hearts  as  old  friends  and 
associates,  that  its  presence  in  their  minds  had  added 
austerity  to  Brewster's  mien,  and  thoughtfulness  to  that 
of  Bradford,  while  it  acted  as  a  spur  to  the  captain's 
fiery  temper. 

Upon  the  table  lay  a  formal  petition,  drawn  by  Ed 
ward  Window,  and  signed  by  Myles  Standish,  John 
Alden,  Elder  Brewster  and  his  two  sons  Jonathan  and 
Love,  Eaton,  Soule,  Samson,  Bassett,  Collier,  Cudworth, 


AH,  BROTHER  OLD  HA  ME,  IS  IT  THOU!      219 

De  la  Noye,  and  half  a  dozen  more  substantial  men,  who 
in  decorous  and  respectful  language  represented  that 
they  and  their  families  already  composed  a  community 
equaling  that  of  Plymouth,  and  begged  to  be  incorpo 
rated  as  a  town  under  the  name  of  Duxbury,  and  to  have 
the  approval  of  the  mother-church  in  their  choice  of  the 
Rev.  Ralph  Partridge  as  their  minister. 

The  petition  had  first  been  presented  some  four  years 
before  this  time,  but  so  deep  and  heartfelt  was  Brad 
ford's  opposition  to  this  distinct  separation  of  the  origi 
nal  colony,  and  so  varied  his  expedients  to  prevent  it, 
that  the  motion  had  never  fairly  been  carried  until  now, 
when  an  opportunity  offered  to  secure  the  eloquent  and 
devout  Cambridge  scholar  as  pastor,  and  it  was  essential 
that  the  town  should  have  an  assured  being  and  re 
sources. 

Very  few  words  were  used  upon  this  occasion,  for  all 
had  been  said  that  could  be  said,  not  once  but  many 
times  before ;  and  now  as  Bradford,  after  a  brief  and 
formal  discussion,  signed  the  act  of  incorporation,  he 
laid  down  the  pen,  and  looking  around  the  council  board 
solemnly  said,  — 

"  May  this  rending  of  his  garment  not  provoke  the 
Lord  to  wrath,  as  well  I  fear  it  may  !  " 

Not  even  Elder  Brewster  found  a  word  to  reply,  and 
the  deed  was  done. 

An  hour  later,  as  the  Duxbury  men  prepared  to 
return  to  their  new  home,  Standish  linked  his  arm  in 
that  of  his  old  friend  and  led  him  up  the  hill,  saying,  — 

"  Nay,  Will,  for  old  time's  sake  put  a  better  face 
on  't,  man.  Come  over  with  us  to  Captain's  Hill,  as  they 
call  it,  and  tarry  the  night.  We  '11  crush  a  kindly  cup 
to  the  new  town,  and  you  shall  be  its  godfather.  Never 


220  BETTY  ALUEN. 

look  so  glum,  I  pr'ythee,  Will !  You  take  all  the  heart 
out  of  me,  old  friend." 

"  See  there,  Myles,  see  that !  " 

"  What,  mine  own  old  house  ?  'T  is  going  to  ruin 
already,  is  it  not,  and  yet  't  is  no  more  than  seventeen 
years  since  these  hands  with  John  Alden's  aid  laid  it 
beam  to  beam." 

"  And  why  does  it  go  to  ruin,  Myles  ?  " 

"Why?  Why,  because  no  man  careth  for  it,  I  sup 
pose." 

"  Ay,  you  've  answered  me,  friend.  No  man  careth 
for  that  home,  nor  for  John  Alden's  hard  by,  nor  for 
Edward  Winslow's,  and  the  Elder's  great  house  is  now 
but  a  half-hearted  home,  for  he  is  more  at  Duxbury 
than  here.  I  speak  not  of  the  rest,  for  they  are  of  less 
account  to  me  ;  and  that  is  a  fault  which  I  confess,  but 
nature  is  strong,  and  the  carnal  heart  of  man  clings  to 
its  own." 

"  And  why  should  not  a  man's  heart  cling  to  his  old 
friends  and  comrades,  Will,  and  why  should  not  you 
value  the  Elder,  and  Winslow,  and  Alden,  and  a  few 
more  of  us  more  than  you  do  all  these  nimble  Jacks  that 
have  sprung  up  to  push  us  old  ones  from  our  places  ?  Be 
a  saint  an'  you  please,  old  comrade,  but  don't  strive  to 
cease  to  be  a  man." 

"  And  here  is  the  Fort  you  loved  so  well,  Myles. 
Shall  you  have  a  new  Fort  at  Duxbury  ?  " 

The  captain  stopped,  and  squaring  round  laid  a  finger 
upon  the  governor's  breast,  and  fixed  his  keen  brown 
eyes  upon  the  other's  fairer  face. 

"  Friend,"  said  he  in  a  tenderer  voice  than  was  his 
wont,  "  where  a  man  is  all  but  as  good  and  as  godly  as 
a  woman,  he  is  apt  to  have  some  trace  of  woman's  faults 


AH,  BROTHER  OLDHAME,  IS  IT  THOU!     221 

and  follies,  and  that  last  speech  of  yours  savors  of 
woman's  jealousy  and  spite.  Play  the  man,  "Will,  play 
the  man,  and  smite  me  with  thy  fist  an'  thou  lik'st  not 
what  I  do  and  say,  but  never  lower  thyself  to  stinging 
with  thy  tongue." 

The  Governor  of  Plymouth  turned  his  back  and 
Steadfastly  looked  over  toward  Manomet,  green  and 
glowing  in  the  sunset  of  a  June  afternoon,  her  graceful 
young  trees  in  their  tender  foliage  as  airy  and  as  gay, 
and  her  forest  monarchs  as  stately,  as  they  had  been 
before  the  white  men  saw  these  shores,  or  as  they  are 
to-day  when  Bradford  and  Standish  are  dust  and  ashes, 
and  as  they  will  be  when  the  hand  that  writes  and  the 
eyes  that  read  are  even  as  those  of  the  fathers.  We 
love  Nature  so  passionately  and  so  persistently  because 
it  is  an  unrequited  affection  ;  at  the  most  she  only  holds 
up  the  cheek  for  us  to  kiss. 

This  little  interlude  is  but  a  piece  of  delicacy  that 
Bradford  may  have  time  to  recover  himself,  and  now 
he  turns,  and  folding  Standish's  patrician  hand  in  a 
larger  grasp  slowly  says,  — 

"  '  Let  the  righteous  smite  me  friendly,  but  let  not  his 
precious  balms  break  my  head.'  Come,  Myles,  let  us 
mount  the  Fort." 

"  Yes,  I  must  see  if  Lieutenant  Holmes  is  carrying 
out  my  directions,  for  I  promise  you,  Master  Bradford, 
I  'm  meaning  to  hold  a  tight  hand  over  you  here  in  mili 
tary  matters.  Mind  you,  I  am  always  generalissimo  of 
the  colony's  forces,  whether  of  Plymouth,  or  Scituate,  or 
Duxbury." 

«'  I  thank  thee,  Myles,"  said  the  governor  quietly, 
and  so  they  passed  into  the  dusky  Fort,  over  whose  por 
tal  the  skull  of  Wituwamat  still  stood,  bleached  by  sum- 


222  BETTY  ALDEN. 

mer  sun  and  winter  snow,  and  sheltering  year  by  year 
the  wrens  who  had  an  hereditary  nest  in  its  hollow. 

"  And  you  '11  come  home  with  me,  Will  ?  "  said  the 
captain  wistfully,  as,  a  little  later,  they  descended  the 
hill. 

"  No,  Myles,  no ;  I  'm  not  an  Abraham.  I  can  give 
my  Isaac  with  submission  and  faith,  but  I  cannot  offer 
him  up,  nor  feast  upon  the  sacrifice." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    MOONLIGHT   AND   THE    DAWN. 

A  CLUMSY  boat,  very  different  from  the  trim  racing 
craft  that  to-day  skim  the  waters  of  Plymouth  Bay 
weltered  slowly  toward  the  rude  pier  just  below  the 
new  home  of  Myles  Standish. 

The  passengers  were  also  very  different  from  those  of 
to-day,  and  perhaps  a  parallel  might  be  drawn  in  both 
cases  between  passengers  and  boat,  but  as  it  would  not 
be  in  our  own  favor  I  will  not  pursue  it,  merely  men 
tioning  that  the  solidly  built,  honest,  safe,  capacious, 
and  unpretending  boat  first  mentioned  contained  Elder 
Brewster,  Captain  Standish,  Edward  Winslow,  John 
Alden,  Thomas  Prence,  William  Collier,  and  two  or 
three  more  of  the  "  Immortals  "  from  whom  we  are  so 
glad  to  claim  descent,  and  so  sorry  to  confess  that  it 
has  been  such  a  tremendous  descent. 

Upon  the  bluff  where  stood  the  captain's  house,  and 
scattered  down  the  path  to  the  shore,  a  path  graded 
with  military  skill  and  precision,  a  merry  crowd  of  men, 
women,  and  children  stood  waving  hats  and  handker 
chiefs  and  shouting  words  of  welcome,  whereat  Stan- 
dish  smiled  and  Winslow  remarked,  — 

"  All  Duxbury  seems  gathered  to  greet  us  ;  but  how 
are  they  so  sure  that  we  bring  the  charter  after  so  many 
disappointments  ?  " 

"  I  told  them  if  we  had  it  I  would  fly  my  private 


224  BETTY  ALDEN. 

ensign,"  replied  Standish  a  little  complacently ;  and 
Window,  glancing  at  the  mainmast,  perceived  a  small 
flag  whereon  was  deftly  embroidered  the  owl  with  a  rat 
in  his  talons,  then  as  now  the  crest  of  the  elder  house 
of  Standish. 

"  Ha !  That  is  something  new,  is  't  not  ?  "  asked  the 
master  of  Careswell,  not  well  pleased  that  another  should 
make  heraldic  pretensions  before  himself. 

"  Yes.  My  Lora  embroidered  it,  and  I  told  them 
all  that  if  our  errand  to-day  was  successful  I  would 
fly  it  for  the  first  time  in  honor  of  the  birth  of  Dux- 
bury." 

"  Daughter  of  our  dear  mother  Plymouth,"  remarked 
Thomas  Prence ;  and  the  captain  somewhat  uneasily 
replied,  — 

"  God  grant  the  daughter's  birth  may  not  cost  the 
mother's  life,  as  our  good  governor  seems  to  forebode." 

14  Nay,  Master  Bradford  would  have  the  sun  stand 
still  in  heaven,  and  lucky  is  it  for  Duxbury  that  he  is 
no  Joshua,"  retorted  Winslow  with  a  smile  so  near  a 
sneer  that  Standish  flushed  angrily,  and  shouted  with 
quite  unnecessary  vehemence  to  John  Howard,  who  was 
steering,  — 

"  Luff,  man  alive,  luff !  You  '11  never  fetch  the  pier  ! 
Can't  you  see  where  you  're  going  ?  " 

"  There  's  Hobomok  waiting  to  catch  the  bowline," 
resumed  Winslow  pacifically.  "What  a  good  faith 
ful  creature  he  has  proved,  and  how  fond  of  you,  Cap 
tain  !  " 

"  He  is  my  friend,  and  I  am  one  that  looks  for  faith 
fulness  in  a  friend,"  replied  the  captain  significantly. 

"  You  have  a  right  to  ask  for  what  you  give.  And 
lo  you  now !  there  's  a  pretty  sight !  "  pursued  the  dip- 


THE  MOONLIGHT  AND  THE  DAWN.        225 

lomat,  undisturbed.  "  Those  little  maids  all  in  white 
and  flower-crowned  mind  one  of  the  maids  of  Israel 
coming  forth  to  meet  the  captain  of  Judah." 

"  Or  *  Benjamin  our  little  ruler,'  more  aptly," 
laughed  Standish,  whose  pride  had  no  taint  of  personal 
vanity. 

"  Those  two  slips  of  May  are  your  Lora,  and  Betty 
Alden,  are  they  not  ?  "  pursued  Winslow. 

"  Yes  ;  they  are  fast  friends,  and  always  together. 
Fair  lasses  enow,  eh,  John  ?  " 

"  Methinks  we  've  naught  to  complain  of,  Captain," 
returned  Alden  placidly. 

"  They  mind  one  of  moonlight  and  dawn,"  said 
Winslow  with  honest  admiration  in  his  voice.  "  Lora 
does  not  look  like  a  colonist's  child,  Captain." 

"No.  She  favors  her  forbears.  There  's  an  old 
picture  at  Standish  Hall  that  might  have  been  painted 
for  her  likeness.  Mayhap  some  day  "  — 

"  And  Betty  is  a  real  rosebud  of  Old  England.  She 
does  not  copy  her  comely  mother,  Alden,  and  yet  is  as 
comely." 

"  No.  Sally  is  more  like  her  mother,"  replied  John 
simply,  and  as  the  boat  drew  in  to  the  wharf  all  three 
men  looked  approvingly  at  the  two  young  girls  just  bud 
ding  into  maidenhood,  and  forming  as  sweet  and  pure  a 
contrast  as  the  moonlight  and  the  dawn  to  which  the 
courtly  Winslow  had  compared  them  ;  for  Betty  in  her 
wholesome  growth  had  as  it  were  absorbed  color  from 
the  sunshine,  willowy  strength  from  the  sea  breeze, 
and  fragrance  from  the  epigaea,  until  her  brown  eyes 
sparkled  and  glinted  like  the  sea  in  a  sunny  morning, 
and  her  crisp  hair  had  netted  the  summer  into  its 
meshes.,  and  her  cheeks  and  lips  throbbed  with  soft 


226  BETTY  ALDEN. 

bright  color  like  the  petals  of  a  wild  rose.  But  Lora, 
as  tall  already  as  her  friend,  although  several  years 
younger,  was  slight  as  a  flower  stalk,  her  pale  gold  hair 
almost  too  heavy  for  her  little  head,  her  soft  gray  eyes 
almost  too  large  for  the  pure  oval  of  her  face,  the  sweet 
color  of  her  mouth  too  faintly  reproduced  in  her  cheeks. 
If  Betty  Alden  resembled  the  dawn  of  a  summer  morn 
ing  upon  sea-girt  field  and  forest,  Lora  Standish  brought 
to  mind  a  garden  of  annunciation  lilies  bathed  in  moon 
light. 

And  now  as  the  fond  fathers  gazed,  and  Winslow's 
golden  tongue  dropped  phrases  sweet  in  their  ears  as 
honey  of  Hymettus,  John  Howard,  ancestor  of  a  grand 
line  of  Bridgewater  yeomen,  but  at  present  in  the  house 
hold  of  Standish,  deftly  gave  his  tiller  a  turn  that  laid 
the  boat's  nose  softly  against  the  pier,  while  Hobomok, 
with  an  inarticulate  grunt  of  welcome,  seized  the  lino 
tossed  him  by  John  Alden  and  made  it  fast  around  an 
oaken  pile  well  bedded  in  the  wharf. 

In  a  few  moments  the  boat  was  empty,  and  its  passen 
gers  mingled  with  the  eager  crowd  who  pressed  forward 
to  greet  them.  Chief  of  these  was  the  new  pastor, 
Ralph  Partridge,  a  "  gracious  and  learned  man,"  an 
alumnus  of  Cambridge  and  for  twenty  years  a  clergy 
man  of  the  Established  Church  of  England,  but  now, 
as  Mather  quaintly  has  it,  he,  "  being  distressed  by  the 
ecclesiastical  setters,  had  no  defence  neither  of  beak  nor 
claw,  but  a  flight  over  the  ocean.  The  place  where  he 
took  covert  was  the  Colony  of  Plymouth,  and  the  Town 
of  Duxbury  in  that  Colony.  This  Partridge  had  not  only 
the  innocence  of  the  dove,  but  also  the  loftiness  of  the 
eagle  in  the  great  soar  of  his  intellectual  abilities,"  etc. 

To  this  gentleman  as  the  principal  person  among  his 


THE  MOONLIGHT  AND  THE  DAWN.        227 

guests  Standish  addressed  himself,  and  taking  from 
the  breast  of  his  doublet  a  package  carefully  enveloped 
in  oiled  silk,  opened  it  and  showed  a  sheet  of  parchment, 
brief  as  to  its  contents  and  crude  as  to  its  chirography, 
but  bearing  some  very  distinguished  autographs,  and  car 
rying  with  it  an  importance  to  that  group  of  people  simi 
lar  to  that  possessed  in  the  eyes  of  a  young  wife  by  the 
title  deeds  of  her  new  home,  her  dower  house,  and  the 
birthplace  of  her  future  children. 

"  Here  is  the  charter,  reverend  sir,  and  now  the  people 
of  Duxbury  have  a  right  to  invite  you  to  become  their 
pastor,"  said  the  captain  bluntly  ;  but  as  Partridge  took 
the  parchment  he  looked  at  the  man  who  gave  it  and 
said  softly,  — 

"  Shall  I  be  your  pastor,  Captain  Standish  ?  " 

"  Nay,  sir,  this  is  no  time  for  such  questions,"  re 
plied  Standish,  rather  displeased,  and  turning  away  he 
entered  the  house  to  lay  aside  some  of  his  heavy  clothes 
and  don  festal  attire.  In  the  principal  room,  deep  in 
whispered  council,  stood  Barbara  Standish  and  Priscilla 
Alden,  two  comely  and  gracious  matrons,  at  sight  of 
whom  the  captain's  face  softened  into  a  merry  smile. 

"Now  what  mischief  are  you  plotting,  you  two  with 
your  heads  together  like  Guy  Fawkes  and  Tyrrell  ?  " 
exclaimed  he.  "  Priscilla,  never  teach  your  rebel  fash 
ions  to  my  well-trained  dame,  or  I  shall  have  her  snatch 
ing  at  the  reins  !  " 

"  And  you  'd  rather  she  'd  ride  the  pillion  and  cling 
to  your  belt  with  a  '  Good  master,  have  a  care  of  me  ' !  " 
cried  Priscilla,  her  dark  eyes  flashing  as  brightly  as  they 
had  done  some  sixteen  years  before  while  she  said, 
"  Why  don't  you  speak  for  yourself,  John  ?  " 

".  'T  is  a  woman's  rightful  place,  and  I  '11  be  bound, 


228  BETTY  ALDEN. 

when  all 's  said,  you  came  over  here  to-day  on  a  pillion 
with  only  your  boy  Jack  to  cling  to." 

"  Nay,  we  all  came  in  the  boat,  down  Bluefish  River 
and  so  round.  You  see  there  's  so  many  of  us,  —  John 
and  Jo  and  Betty  and  David  and  Jonathan  and  Sally 
and  Ruth  and  Molly ;  for  I  could  not  leave  the  babies  at 
home  without  keeping  Betty  and  Sally  to  mind  them, 
and  that  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  says  my  Betty,  who 
aye  has  her  own  way." 

"And  marvelous  that  she  should,  seeing  she  comes 
of  so  weak  a  mother." 

"  Oh,  she  takes  after  her  father,  poor  child,  and  he 
would  ever  be  aping  the  ways  of  his  captain." 

Doubtless  the  captain  would  soon  have  provided  him 
self  with  a  retort,  but  Barbara  laid  a  hand  upon  his  arm. 

"  While  you  two  are  changing  your  merry  quips  and 
cranks,  the  supper  waits,"  said  she.  "  Surely,  Myles, 
you  will  wash  your  hands  and  straighten  your  hair; 
and  Priscilla,  is  't  not  time  for  you  to  put  the  last  touch 
to  the  whips  and  syllabub  ?  " 

"  True  enough,  Barbara,  and  lo,  I  'm  gone !  "  cried 
Priscilla,  and  disappeared  into  the  great  cool  dairy  with 
its  northern  exposure,  where  the  milk  of  the  red  cow 
and  the  two  young  daughters  now  added  to  her  was 
manufactured  by  Barbara  into  not  only  butter,  but  all 
sorts  of  dainty  confections.  On  this  occasion,  however, 
Priscilla  Alden  had  as  of  old  been  summoned  to  help 
the  housewife,  and  lend  not  only  her  hands  but  her  in 
comparable  culinary  skill  to  the  work  of  providing  enter 
tainment  for  the  two  or  three  score  persons  who  had 
gathered  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  their  town.  With 
most  of  these,  or  at  least  with  the  heads  of  the  families, 
we  are  already  acquainted,  but  in  the  seventeen  years 


THE  MOONLIGHT  AND  THE  DAWN.        229 

since  the  landing  of  the  Mayflower  many  who  were  then 
children  have  grown  to  maturity  and  married ;  as  for 
instance,  Love  Brewster,  who  has  been  for  three  years 
husband  of  Sarah,  daughter  of  that  William  Collier  the 
only  man  among  the  London  Adventurers  who  proved 
his  faith  in  the  Pilgrims  by  coming  to  live  among  them. 
See  him  as  he  stands  talking  with  Elder  Brewster,  his 
four  fair  daughters  all  within  sight :  Sarah  Brewster, 
Elizabeth  Southworth,  Rebecca  Cole,  and  Mary,  whose 
sweet  face  and  ample  dowry  have  already  comforted 
Thomas  Prence  for  the  loss  of  his  first  wife,  gentle 
Patience  Brewster. 

So  many  of  our  friends  are  here  collected  that  we  may 
not  mention  half  their  names  :  Henry  Samson,  the  little 
boy  passenger  of  the  Mayflower,  with  his  bride,  and  his 
later  come  brother  Abraham,  soon  to  marry  the  daugh 
ter  of  Lieutenant  Nash ;  the  Rowlands,  not  only  stanch 
John  and  Elizabeth  Tilley  his  wife,  but  John  and  Jabez 
their  sons,  and  pretty  Desire,  fast  friend  of  Betty  Alden 
and  Lora  Standish.  And  here  are  some  new-comers, 
the  Pabodies,  settled  near  John  Alden  on  Bluefish 
River,  but  already  owning  land  in  The  Nook,  where  the 
father  promises  to  build  a  house  for  the  first  of  his  sons 
who  shall  marry.  Three  of  the  lads  are  here  to-day, 
and  William,  a  fine,  manly  young  fellow  of  seventeen 
years,  hangs  around  the  group  of  laughing  girls,  and 
watches  Betty  Alden  with  all  his  eyes. 

But  we  must  not  linger  with  the  guests,  although  each 
one  seems  like  a  friend,  nor  may  we  pause  to  enumerate 
the  dainties  spread  in  graceful  profusion  upon  the  ta 
bles  set  between  the  house  and  the  edge  of  the  bluff ; 
suffice  it  to  say  that  Barbara  has  delegated  to  Priscilla 
Alden  the  part  of  caterer,  and  well  has  she  sustained 


230  BETTY  ALDEN. 

her  reputation,  using  the  abundant  material  placed  at 
her  service  to  the  very  best  advantage,  and  winning 
from  each  of  her  assistants  the  very  best  service  they 
knew  how  to  render.  Nor  does  the  banquet  fail  to  re 
ceive  ample  justice  at  the  hands  of  the  banqueters,  be 
ginning  with  those  dignitaries  seated  in  state  at  a  table 
covered  with  Barbara's  best  napery,  and  provided  with 
all  the  magnificence  of  silver,  pewter,  and  china  that  she 
has  been  able  to  muster,  not  only  from  her  own  stores, 
but  those  of  her  neighbors.  Here  on  either  hand  of  the 
captain  sit  Elder  Brewster  and  Ralph  Partridge,  with 
Winslow  at  the  other  end  of  the  table,  flanked  by  Wil 
liam  Collier  and  Timothy  Hatherley  ;  at  another  table 
preside  John  Alden  and  John  Rowland,  with  Thomas 
Prence,  William  Bassett,  and  Jonathan  Brewster,  al 
ready  a  leading  man  in  the  colony  :  and  at  these  two 
tables  are  seated  nearly  all  the  heads  of  families  soon 
to  be  enrolled  as  the  freemen  of  Duxbury,  while  their 
wives  and  younger  children  cluster  around  a  third  ta 
ble,  headed  by  Barbara  and  Priscilla,  and  the  young 
people  enjoy  themselves  amazingly  at  their  own  board, 
as  remote  as  possible  from  that  of  the  elders,  their  fun  a 
little  chastened  by  the  presence  of  those  young  matrons 
Mistress  Prence  and  Mistress  Love  Brewster,  themselves 
no  more  than  girls. 

And  so  was  Duxbury's  birthday  celebrated,  and  still 
the  honest  mirth  and  neighborly  kindliness  went  on, 
until  the  sun  dropped  behind  Captain's  Hill,  and  the 
red  cow  lowed  at  the  bars  of  her  pasture  hard  by. 

Then,  after  a  little  silence  that  made  itself  felt,  Elder 
Brewster  rose  in  his  place  and  said,  — 

"  Brethren  and  children,  this  is  a  day  of  solemn  joy 
to  us  who  now  have  become  a  town  by  ourselves,  even 


THE  MOONLIGHT  AND  THE  DAWN.        231 

as  children  going  out  from  their  father's  house  to  begin 
a  home  of  their  very  own ;  a  day  to  remember,  breth 
ren,  and  to  set  down  in  our  annals,  that  when  in  time 
to  come  our  children's  children  shall  ask,  '  Why  do  ye 
these  things  ?  '  they  shall  find  an  answer  ready  to  their 
hands.  Some  of  you  upon  whom  mine  eyes  now  rest 
were  fellow-passengers  with  me  in  the  ship  Mayflower, 
and  ye  remember,  as  I  do,  the  barren  and  comfortless 
shore  whereon  we  landed  and  were  fain  to  call  it  home. 
Some  of  us,  turning  our  eyes  to  that  southern  shore,  can 
almost  see  the  hillside  where  in  those  first  months  we 
day  by  day  laid  away  the  forms  of  those  dearest  to  our 
natural  hearts,  or  most  precious  to  the  life  of  our  little 
colony  ;  we  recall  the  suffering  by  sea,  the  suffering  by 
land,  the  cold  and  hunger  and  misery  and  grievous  toil 
we  then  endured ;  but  do  we  recall  them  to  lament,  to 
sorrow  like  babes  over  our  own  distresses  ?  Nay,  men, 
we  recall  them  in  joy  and  praise,  in  wonder  and  admira 
tion  at  His  goodness  who  hath  so  wonderfully  brought 
plenty  out  of  famine,  joy  out  of  sorrow,  the  morning  out 
of  night.  Well  may  we  say  with  Israel,  « I  am  less  than 
the  least  of  thy  mercies  ;  for  with  my  staff  I  passed  over 
this  Jordan,  and  now  I  am  become  two  companies ! ' 

"  Is  it  not  verily  true  ?  There  lieth  Plymouth,  fair 
and  prosperous,  the  mother  of  us  all  in  this  new  land ; 
and  here  stand  we,  sturdy,  well-grown  children,  fit  to 
take  our  own  part  in  the  world,  ay,  and  to  comfort  her 
should  she  call  upon  us.  Have  we  not  cause  for  rejoi 
cing,  ay,  and  for  a  firm  resolve  to  show  ourselves  in 
some  degree  worthy  of  such  singular  mercies  ?  Breth 
ren,  my  heart  is  too  full  to  speak  further  save  to  One. 
Let  us  pray." 

Up  rose  the  old  men,  the  grave  and  bearded  men,  the 


232  BETTY  ALDEN. 

matronly  women  whose  eyes  ran  over  with  the  memories 
the  elder  had  invoked ;  up  rose  the  young  men,  rejoi 
cing  in  their  strength,  yet  reverent  of  their  sires,  and  of 
the  story  they  had  learned  in  childhood  and  would  not 
forget  in  age  ;  the  lads,  the  maidens,  the  little  children, 
all  rose,  and  stood  with  bowed  heads  and  hushed  breath 
to  listen  to  the  tremulous  voice  of  that  aged  servant  of 
God  as,  forgetting  all  save  Him  to  whom  he  spoke,  he 
poured  forth  one  of  those  fervent  and  trustful  appeals 
whose  eloquent  power  are  matter  of  history.  And  as 
he  raised  his  hands  in  benediction,  calling  down  a  spe 
cial  blessing  upon  the  new  town  and  each  and  every  one 
of  its  homes,  a  plume  of  smoke  rose  from  Burying  Hill 
far  to  the  south,  and  the  sunset  gun  boomed  out  its  sol 
emn  detonation. 

"  Plymouth  says  Amen !  "  whispered  Priscilla  Alden 
in  Betty's  ear ;  and  the  girl  silently  pointed  to  Lora 
Standish,  upon  whose  head  the  last  sunbeam  had  laid  a 
finger,  lighting  the  pale  gold  of  her  hair  to  the  nimbus 
of  a  saint.  Priscilla  looked,  and  suddenly  clasped  her 
own  child  close  to  her  side ;  but  neither  spoke. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

"  LOREA  STANDISH  IS  MY  NAME." 

"  LORA  !  Aunt  Bab  !  What  do  you  think  ?  Bessie 
Partridge  has  a  sweetheart,  and  he  's  going  to  be  a  min 
ister,  and  his  father  is  one  of  the  old  sort  that  we  're 
bound  to  hate ;  but  the  parson  don't  care  and  has  given 
his  consent,  and  they  're  to  be  married  out  of  hand. 
There,  now  !  " 

"  But,  Betty,  dear  child,  do  catch  your  breath  and 
sit  down  and  put  back  your  hair  all  blown  over  your 
face"  — 

"I  know,  Aunt  Bab,  I  know;  but  I  just  put  Jo's 
saddle  on  the  colt  and  cantered  him  over  here  at  his 
best  speed,  and  of  course  my  hair  is  blown  about.  Lora, 
I  could  shake  you,  you  provoking  girl,  with  your  hair 
like  new  carded  flax,  and  your  fresh  kirtle  and  wimple, 
and  your  stitchery  in  your  hand  "  — 

"  The  sampler  is  well-nigh  done,"  interrupted  the 
mother  proudly,  "  and  I  think  she  hath  done  it  fairly 
enough,  don't  you,  Betty  Alden  ?  " 

"  Certainly  I  do,  auntie,  and  I  know  as  well  as  though 
you  said  it  I  shall  never  be  a  patch  on  Lora  for  deli 
cate  needlework  ;  but  then  there  are  so  many  of  us,  and 
mother  has  no  time  for  her  needle,  and  the  boys  and 
father  do  wear  out  their  hosen  most  unmercifully,  and 
keep  me  darning  or  knitting  all  the  time.  I  've  a  stock 
ing  in  my  pocket  here  for  Jonathan  ;  but  first  let  me 
have  a  good  viow  of  the  sampler,  Lora." 


234  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"Wait  but  till  I  cut  off  my  silk  at  the  end  of 
'  name,'  "  said  Lora,  busily  fastening  her  thread  at  the 
back  of  the  canvas.  "  There,  now  I  've  the  needle  safe  ! 
You  know  you  lost  one  for  me  last  time  you  were  here, 
and  mother  and  I  hunted  an  hour  for  it." 

"  I  know,"  replied  Betty  penitently,  "  and  if  you  had 
not  found  it  mother  was  going  to  send  John  and  Jo  over 
to  the  governor  to  see  if  he  had  some  in  store." 

"He  had  some  direct  from  Whitechapel  by  the 
Lyon,"  remarked  Barbara,  "  but  the  price  is  advanced 
to  fivepence  each,  and  we  must  be  careful." 

"  You  see  I  have  still  the  flourishing  at  the  end  to 
do,"  said  Lora,  handing  Betty  the  frame  in  which  a  long 
and  narrow  piece  of  linen  was  tightly  stretched  and 
nearly  covered  with  parallel  lines  of  embroidery  done 
in  various  colored  silks.  Near  the  lower  end  came  a 
verse,  or  at  least  some  rhymes  running  thus  :  — 

"  Lorea  Standish  is  my  name. 
Lord,  guide  my  heart  that  I  may  do  Thy  will ; 
Also  fill  my  hands  with  such  convenient  skill 
As  will  conduce  to  virtue  void  of  shame, 
And  I  will  give  the  glory  to  Thy  name." 

The  letters  forming  these  words  were  characterized 
by  a  noble  independence  and  freedom  from  any  slav 
ish  adherence  to  custom,  some  of  them  being  capitals 
and  some  small,  some  little  and  some  big,  and  the  D's 
turning  their  backs  or  their  faces  to  their  comrades  as  a 
vagrant  fancy  dictated.  Such  as  it  was,  however,  this 
sampler  was  in  Betty  Alden's  eyes  a  work  of  art  com 
manding  her  respectful  admiration,  mingled  with  a 
warmer  feeling  rising  from  her  very  sincere  love  for  the 
artist. 

"  Oh,  Lora !  "  cried  she,  throwing  an  arm  around  the 


LOREA  STANDISH  IS  MY  NAME.  235 

girl's  slender  neck  and  kissing  her  heartily,  "  one  can 
see  that  you  come  of  gentle  blood,  and  are  fitter  for 
silken  embroidery  than  for  the  milking-stool  which  is 
my  usual  workbench." 

"  Nay,  I  would  love  to  milk,  and  churn,  and  cook,  and 
knit  gray  hosen,  but  father  will  not  have  it  so,"  said 
Lora  a  little  wearily.  "  I  may  spin,  and  sew,  and  do 
my  tent-stitch,  and  help  mother  make  syllabubs  and  the 
like,  but  it  angers  him  if  I  soil  my  hands  or  wear  a 
homespun  kirtle  such  as  is  fit  for  rough  work  "  — 

"  Rough  work  and  Lora  are  droll  ideas  to  bring  to 
gether,  are  n't  they,  auntie  ?  "  interrupted  Betty  with  an 
other  hug  and  kiss  to  her  friend,  whose  sweet  face  had 
grown  a  little  flushed  and  worried  as  she  spoke. 

"  But  come,  dear,  I  want  you  to  go  with  me  to  see 
Bessie  and  ask  her  if  this  wonderful  news  is  sooth.  She 
may  come,  may  n't  she,  auntie  ?  " 

"Yes,  child,  so  that  you're  both  back  for  supper. 
Father  can't  abide  finding  Lora's  seat  empty  at  table." 

"  We'll  be  sure  to  come.  Now,  Loly,  where  's  your 
hood  ?  " 

"  Put  on  your  sleeves  and  your  cape,  Lora.  You  '11 
get  burned  else." 

"  Yes,  mother,"  replied  the  girl  patiently,  and  passing 
into  her  own  bedroom  returned  presently  with  a  cape 
covering  her  bare  neck,  and  buttoning  some  loose  sleeves 
to  her  shoulders,  for  in  that  day  a  gown  with  high 
neck  and  long  sleeves  was  a  vestment  unknown,  and 
when  ao-e  or  cold  weather  or  out-of-door  excursions  de- 

& 

manded  a  covering  for  shoulders  and  arms  it  was  sup 
plied,  as  in  Lora's  case,  by  temporary  expedients.  A  little 
white  linen  hood  tied  under  the  chin  completed  the  girl's 
preparation,  and  with  a  gentle  kiss  upon  her  mother's 


236  BETTY  ALDEN. 

cheek  she  joined  Betty  impatiently  waiting  upon  the 
doorstep. 

"  Lora,  I  should  think  it  would  weary  you  to  be  such 
a  cosset !  "  cried  she,  as  the  girls  struck  into  a  path  lead 
ing  northward  through  the  captain's  lands  to  Eagle's 
Creek,  where  hard  by  a  clmup  of  aged  oaks  stood  the 
cottage  where  in  the  summer  season  Elder  Brewster 
lived  with  his  sons  Love  and  Wrestling  and  the  young 
wife  of  the  former.  Still  trending  north,  the  path  led 
past  Jonathan  Brewster's  comfortable  cottage  near  the 
Eagle's  Tree  to  Harden  Hill,  where  a  little  way  from 
the  edge  of  the  bluff  stood  a  small  and  low  building 
rudely  put  together  of  rough  timber  and  hewn  planks, 
with  a  thatched  roof  and  windows  of  oiled  cloth,  and 
neither  foundations  nor  chimney,  the  former  unneeded 
because  the  colonists  hoped  at  no  distant  day  to  replace 
this  their  one  public  edifice  with  something  more  elabo 
rate  and  permanent,  and  the  latter  undreamed  of  as  yet 
even  in  the  mother-church  of  Plymouth,  where  the  Rev. 
John  Rayner  and  his  colleague  Charles  Chauncey,  both 
graduates  of  Cambridge,  England,  and  bred  in  such 
luxury  as  England  then  knew,  took  turns  in  preaching, 
in  overcoats  and  woolen  gloves,  sermons  of  two  hours' 
duration  to  a  congregation  the  weaklings  of  which  kept 
themselves  alive  by  the  use  of  foot-stoves  and  hot 
bricks  in  their  laps,  while  the  stronger  members  grimly 
endured  sitting  three  and  four  hours  in  an  atmosphere 
considerably  more  chill  than  the  outdoor  winter  air. 

Following  this  example,  Duxbury  built  no  chimneys 
to  her  first  meeting-houses,  and  Elder  Brewster  in  the 
beginning,  with  Ralph  Partridge  and  John  Holmes  to 
succeed  him,  preached  and  prayed  with  only  the  fire  of 
their  own  zeal  to  keep  them  warm. 


LOEEA  STANDISH  IS  MY  NAME.  237 

A  little  way  from  the  meeting-house  stood  a  cottage 
owned  by  William  Bassett,  but  at  present  occupied  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Partridge,  who  waited  for  his  formal  in 
stallation  as  pastor  of  the  new-formed  town  before  set 
tling  himself  in  a  house  of  his  own,  and  "still  lingered  in 
The  Nook,  although  he  had  already  bought  of  William 
Latham  a  house  whose  magnificence  has  descended 
upon  the  pages  of  history  for  our  admiring  contempla 
tion  ;  a  house,  and  not  a  cottage,  for  it  boasted  a  second 
story  with  a  garret  overhead,  and  a  roof  sweeping  majes 
tically  in  the  rear,  from  the  roof-tree  to  the  ground. 

But  the  Partridges  had  not  yet  removed  to  their  new 
nest,  and  it  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the  little  hired  cottage 
on  Harden  Hill  that  Betty  and  Lora  found  their  friend 
Bessie  demurely  watering  and  turning  a  web  of  fine 
linen  laid  to  bleach  upon  the  grass.  As  they  approached 
she  started  and  turned  round,  a  rosy,  sonsy  lassie,  plump 
as  her  name,  and  overflowing  with  health  and  spirits. 

"  Oh,  Bess,  is  it  true  ?  "  began  Betty,  laying  a  hand 
upon  each  of  her  friend's  shoulders  and  scrutinizing  her 
face  with  its  flaming  blushes. 

"  Good-even,  Betty,  good-even,  Lora !  Is  what  true  ? 
What  does  she  mean,  Lora?  Let  me  finish  wetting  my 
linen,  you  runagate  !  " 

"  Your  linen  !  Aha !  How  many  smocks  and  petti 
coats  will  it  make  ?  Or  is  it  for  sheets  and  pillowbers  ? 
And  must  we  all  come  and  help  you  sew  it,  or  is  there 
time  a  plenty?  " 

"  Nay,  Betty,  there  's  some  one  coming !  "  whispered 
Lora,  as  the  figure  of  a  tall  young  man  of  a  decidedly 
clerical  cut  appeared  from  the  front  of  the  house,  and 
Betty,  all  at  once  as  demure  as  a  kitten,  seized  one  end 
of  the  linen,  saying,  — 


238  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Certainly  I  '11  help  you  turn  it,  Bessie ;  and  how  is 
your  mother  to-night  ?  " 

"  Mother  's  well,  and  —  Master  Thacher,  let  me  bring 
you  acquainted  with  Mistress  Alden  and  Mistress  Stan- 
dish,  two  of  the  chief  of  my  friends." 

"  And  so  right  welcome  in  mine  eyes,"  replied  the 
young  man  heartily,  as  he  lightly  kissed  the  cheek  of 
first  one  and  then  the  other  girl,  a  ceremony  no  more 
remarkable  then  than  shaking  hands  is  to-day. 

"  My  uncle  Anthony  has  gone  with  Mr.  Partridge  to 
pay  his  respects  to  Captain  Standish,"  added  he  pleas 
antly.  "All  men  delight  to  do  honor  to  the  Captain  of 
Plymouth  Colony." 

"  You  are  very  courteous  to  say  so,  sir,"  replied  Lora, 
with  her  pretty  little  air  of  dignity  and  reserve ;  "  and 
your  uncle  will  be  right  welcome." 

"  'T  is  strange  we  did  not  meet  them  in  the  way," 
said  Betty,  whose  brown  eyes  had  not  yet  lost  the  gleam 
of  merriment  lighted  by  Bessie's  blushes. 

"  Oh,  they  went  by  Master  Alden's  to  see  him  as  well ; 
and  look,  there  they  all  are  now,  —  the  captain  and 
father  and  Master  Thacher !  "  cried  Bessie.  "  They 
must  have  come  to  your  house  just  as  you  left  it,  Lora." 

"  Nay,  father  was  at  work  with  Alick  and  Josias  in 
the  great  field  beside  the  road,  and  I  doubt  if  the  gen 
tlemen  went  to  the  house  at  all,"  said  Lora,  her  face 
becoming  radiant  as  her  eyes  met  those  of  her  father, 
now  close  at  hand.  Beside  the  captain  strode  the  tall, 
gaunt  figure  of  Ralph  Partridge,  a  man  whose  many 
trials  and  persecutions  had  set  their  stamp  upon  a  face 
naturally  rugged,  and  bowed  a  form  intended  to  be 
sturdy ;  at  Standish's  other  side  walked  a  man  younger 
in  years  than  the  dominie,  but  bearing  upon  his  face 


LOBEA  STANDISH  IS  MY  NAME.  239 

much  the  same  expression  of  strong  endurance  and  un- 
f orgotten  experiences,  —  a  man  with  a  story,  as  any  one 
accustomed  to  reading  faces  would  say,  especially  when, 
as  now,  the  broad-leafed  hat  was  removed,  displaying 
the  hair,  thick  as  that  of  a  youth,  but  white  as  that  of  a 
grandsire. 

"  Here,  Thomas  !  "  cried  this  last  comer,  as  the  elders 
approached  the  little  group  of  young  people  ;  "  come 
hither,  lad,  and  let  me  present  you  to  the  notice  of  Cap 
tain  Myles  Standish,  whose  name  I  have  so  often  heard 
upon  your  lips." 

"  Doubtless  't  was  for  love  of  that  poor  old  soldier  that 
you  have  come  hither,  Master  Thomas,"  said  the  cap 
tain  merrily,  and  under  cover  of  the  little  jest  the  awk 
wardness  of  the  meeting  was  overpast,  and  a  blithe  half 
hour  ensued.  At  last,  while  the  shadows  lengthened, 
and  the  clouds  took  on  their  evening  glory,  and  the 
sweet  breath  of  evening  primroses  and  lowing  kine  filled 
the  sunset  hour,  Myles  and  Lora  strolled  home  along 
the  footpath,  hand  in  hand,  while  Betty  Alden,  light  as 
a  deer,  ran  along  in  front  of  them,  impatient  to  reach 
home  before  her  mother  needed  her. 

Arrived  at  the  house,  father  and  daughter  paused  to 
look  across  the  bay  at  Plymouth  peacefully  sleeping  in 
the  westering  light,  with  Manomet  purple  against  the 
golden  sky,  and  the  wide  stretch  of  water  smooth  as  a 
mirror,  save  where  it  fawned  against  the  point  of  the 
beach  and  the  foot  of  the  bluff  where  they  stood. 

"  A  fair  scene,  a  goodly  scene,  daughter."  said  the 
captain  ;  "  but  not  your  home  for  very  long." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
AVERY'S  FALL  AND  THACHER'S  WOE. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  even  as  to-day,  the 
betrothal  of  a  young  couple  was  cause  of  rejoicing  and 
festivity  among  their  friends,  and  three  days  after  Lora 
and  Betty  had  made  what  we  may  call  their  engagement 
call  upon  Bessie  Partridge,  the  minister's  family  with 
its  guests,  and  Elder  Brewster  and  the  Aldens,  were  in 
vited  to  supper  at  the  captain's.  Not  to  afternoon  tea, 
mind  you  ;  nay,  not  even  to  that  old-fashioned  tea-time 
still  popular  in  the  rural  districts,  where  the  guests  sit 
down  to  a  table  loaded  with  hot  bread  and  toast  and  all 
manner  of  sweets,  with  the  choice  of  tea  or  coffee  to 
wash  down  the  heavy  meal. 

But  Barbara  Standish  had  never  even  heard  the  names 
of  tea  or  coffee,  and  honestly  called  the  last  meal  of  the 
day  "  supper,"  setting  it  at  about  seven  o'clock,  when 
the  labors  of  the  day  were  over  and  all  men  at  leisure 
for  social  enjoyment.  At  that  hour,  therefore,  the  guests 
sat  down  to  a  feast  which  I  dare  not  describe  because  I 
have  already  described  so  many,  but  content  myself  with 
saying  that  it  in  no  wise  discredited  Mistress  Standish's 
housewifery,  and  that  when  Dame  Partridge  asked  for 
the  "  resait "  of  the  frosted  cake,  the  hostess  proudly 
replied  that  Lora  had  so  improved  upon  the  old  for 
mula  that  it  was  left  in  her  hands  altogether,  and  Lora 
modestly  added  that  she  should  be  more  than  glad 


AVERY'S  FALL  AND  THACHER' S   WOE.    241 

to  run  over  and  show  Mrs.  Partridge  exactly  how  she 
made  it. 

"  I  'm  obliged  to  you,  dear,"  responded  the  parson's 
wife ;  "  for,"  with  a  sly  glance  at  the  betrothed  pair 
sitting  very  stiffly  and  formally  at  the  right  hand  of  their 
hostess,  "  I  expect  we  shall  have  to  be  making  up  some 
cake  pretty  soon." 

But  our  concern  is  not  so  much  with  the  feast,  of  which 
these  friends  partook  with  frank  and  honest  appetites,  as 
with  the  conversation  that  came  after,  while  the  women 
gossiped  together  in  the  house  over  a  drop  of  mulled 
wine,  and  the  men,  pipes  in  mouth  and  tankards  of  sound 
ale  at  hand,  sat  under  the  trees  carefully  preserved  upon 
the  edge  of  the  bluff  when  the  land  was  cleared  for 
building. 

Two  wooden  armchairs,  the  only  approach  to  luxuri 
ous  seats  to  be  found  in  the  captain's  cottage,  had  been 
set  forth  for  the  elder  and  Parson  Partridge,  and  the 
next  best  given  to  Anthony  Thacher,  while  the  host, 
with  Alden  and  Jonathan  Brewster,  sat  upon  a  rude 
bench  formed  between  two  beech-trees.  Hobomok,  never 
far  from  his  beloved  hero,  lay  upon  the  grass  solemnly 
smoking,  and  the  younger  men,  Wrestling  Brewster,  com 
monly  called  Ras,  as  a  diminutive  of  'Rastling,  John  and 
Joseph  Alden,  Alick  Standish,  and  Thomas  Thacher 
hung  about  the  door  and  windows  of  the  great  south 
room  where  Bessie,  Betty,  and  Lora  flitted  around  their 
mothers  like  pretty  kittens  around  sober  Tabitha. 

Then  it  was  that  Myles,  after  a  moment's  thought 
and  a  dubious  clearing  of  his  throat,  said  tentatively,  — 

"  Master  Thacher,  when  I  heard  that  you  were  to  be 
sent  deputy  from  your  new  town  of  Yarmouth  to  our 
court  at  Plymouth,  I  resolved  within  myself,  if  opportu- 


242  BETTY  ALDEN. 

nity  should  offer,  and  your  own  mind  prove  toward  the 
matter,  that  I  would  ask  you  to  give  me  a  particular  ac 
count  of  your  famous  shipwreck  upon  the  island  men 
now  call  Thacher's  Woe  from  that  disaster.  Would  it 
offend  you  if  I  now  urge  that  petition  ?  " 

But  even  as  the  words  left  his  mouth  the  captain  re 
gretted  their  utterance,  for  the  man  addressed  cringed 
and  started  in  his  chair,  as  one  who  feels  a  touch  upon 
a  new  wound,  while  the  pallor  of  his  singularly  colorless 
face  turned  to  ashen  gray,  and  his  light  blue  eyes  dilated 
and  wandered  as  those  of  one  who  sees  a  vision  of  terror. 

"  Nay  "  —  resumed  Myles  hastily ;  but  as  hastily 
Thacher  took  the  word  out  of  his  mouth. 

"  Not  nay,  but  ay,  good  friend  !  "  exclaimed  he  with 
an  attempted  smile.  "  I  know  well  that  the  terror  of 
those  fearful  hours  has  left  its  mark  not  only  upon  my 
outer  man,  but  upon  the  forces  of  my  mind,  which  are 
no  longer  altogether  under  mine  own  control,  but,  like  a 
horse  once  well  terrified  at  a  certain  spot,  will  still  swerve 
and  start  in  passing  it,  despite  of  his  driver's  voice  and 
rein.  Albeit,  even  as  it  is  well  that  the  unruly  steed 
should  be  often  taken  past  the  bugbear,  which  he  will  at 
last  cease  to  dread,  so  it  is  well  for  me  to  talk  of  that 
day  from  time  to  time,  and  to  tell  its  story  as  occasion 
shall  befall,  to  friends  who  can  enter  into  its  solemnity." 

"  You  are  right,  my  son,"  said  Elder  Brewster  quietly. 
"  The  unruly  heart  of  man  needs  long  and  bitter  dis 
cipline  before  it  becomes  truly  meek." 

u  Ne'ertheless,  Master  Thacher,  I  do  withdraw  my 
petition,  and  beg  you  instead  of  that  story  to  tell  us 
how  you  like  our  fashion  of  holding  court  by  deputies 
rather  than  pro  coram  publico  as  hath  been  our  wont 
until  this  year." 


AVERT' S  FALL  AND  THACHER'S  WOE.    243 

"  Nay,  Captain  Standish,  one  matter  at  a  time  an  't 
please  you,  and  I  have  no  mind  to  be  balked  of  the 
glory  of  mine  adventure.  What  say  you,  friends  ?  Shall 
not  I  tell  you  of  the  shipwreck  ?  " 

"  It  would  give  me  singular  pleasure  to  hear  it, 
Brother  Thacher,"  replied  the  parson,  while  the  elder 
smiled  approval,  Jonathan  Brewster  murmured  "  Ay  !  " 
and  the  captain,  lifting  his  shaggy  beard  and  taking  the 
pipe  from  his  mouth,  said  with  a  merry  gesture,  — 

"  It  were  churlish  to  refuse  to  listen  to  a  man  who 
fain  would  tell  his  own  adventures,  so  I  will  e'en  put  all 
scruples  in  my  pocket  and  hearken  with  the  rest  of  you." 

"  Well  spoke,  mine  host,  and  I  can  comfort  you  by 
saying  truthfully  that  the  qualm  hath  passed  and  I 
would  rather  tell  the  tale  than  be  silent. 

"  You  men  of  Plymouth  have  not  forgotten  the  great 
storm  of  August  in  the  year  of  grace  1635,  for  it  was 
then  that  the  French  villain  D'Aulney  seized  upon 
your  rich  trading-post  at  Castine  which  they  now  call 
Bragaduce,  and  turned  John  Willet  adrift  with  only  a 
shallop  and  a  worthless  due-bill.  The  terrific  storm  that 
wrecked  Willet's  shallop  and  also  the  armed  ship  Angel 
Gabriel,  bound  to  Boston  in  the  Bay,  overtook  the  hum 
bler  craft  in  which  my  cousin  Dominie  John  Avery,  his 
wife  and  six  children,  and  I  with  my  wife  and  four  chil 
dren,  nine  mariners,  and  other  persons  were  making  the 
voyage  from  Ipswich  to  Marblehead." 

"It  was  a  bark  of  Isaac  Allerton's  in  which  you 
voyaged,  was  it  not  ?  "  asked  Standish. 

"  Ay,  he  was  owner,  but  not  master." 

"  Never  mind  who  played  master,  if  Allerton  was 
owner,  the  boat  was  sure  of  ill  luck,"  growled  Standish ; 
but  the  Elder  interposed  serenely,  — 


244  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Your  speech  savors  of  superstition  as  well  as  un- 
charity,  Captain  Standish,  and  I  had  held  you  singularly 
free  from  both  those  vices." 

"  I  crave  your  pardon,  Elder.  I  had  clean  forgot  that 
Allerton  was  for  a  while  your  son-in  law.  Go  on  an' 
it  please  you,  Master  Thacher." 

But  again  the  power  of  those  memories  he  had  so 
resolutely  evoked  overmastered  the  speaker,  and  it  was 
in  a  hurried  and  broken  voice  and  with  a  furtive  ges 
ture  of  the  hand  across  the  eyes  that  he  again  began  : 

"  I  fain  would  tell  you,  but  I  cannot,  what  John  Avery 
was,  not  to  me  alone  who  loved  him  better  than  David 
could  love  Jonathan,  better  than  mine  own  brother  who 
yet  was  dear  to  me,  but  to  all  the  world  ;  a  man  so 
good,  so  holy,  so  devout,  that  he  seemed  sent  hither  to 
remind  us  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth  whose  humble  fol 
lower  he  was ;  and  withal  so  keen  of  wit,  and  so  sound 
of  judgment,  and  so  ready  to  help  with  heart  and  hand 
wherever  he  saw  need,  that  I  leaned  upon  him  and 
yearned  toward  him  in  all  difficulties  as  a  little  child 
with  his  mother.  Verily  I  believe  it  was  for  the  chas 
tisement  of  mine  own  overweening  love  that  this  thing 
hath  befallen." 

"  Belike  rather  the  God  he  served  saw  him  fit  for 
heaven,  and  so  took  him  even  as  He  did  Elijah,"  said 
the  Elder  reverently. 

"  It  may  be,  venerable  sir,  it  may  be  ;  but  I  cannot 
forget  mine  own  arrogancy  when  John  told  me  that  the 
church  at  Marblehead  had  invited  him,  and  he  was  fain 
to  go,  and  I  said,  '  Well  and  good,  John,  but  you  shaVt 
be  rid  of  me,  for  I  '11  go  too,  and  naught  but  death  shall 
part  us.'  Ah  me !  Naught  but  death,  says  I,  and  verily 
't  was  naught  but  death  I  " 


AVERY'S  FALL  AND  THACHER' S   WOE.    245 

"  Did  it  storm  when  you  set  forth  ?"  asked  Jonathan 
Brewster's  clear  and  somewhat  cold  voice ;  and  Thacher, 
recalling  himself  with  a  start,  replied  in  much  the  same 
tone  :  — 

"  No,  although  the  weather  looked  threatening,  and 
our  master  was  in  haste  to  sail,  hoping  to  weather  Cape 
Ann  before  the  wind  changed  as  he  foreboded  it  would. 
But  it  was  just  off  the  Cape  that  it  fell  calm,  and  then 
all  in  a  moment  the  storm  burst,  and  the  wind,  veering  to 
every  point  of  the  compass,  caught  us  as  if  in  a  whirlpool, 
so  that  before  the  sailors  could  trim  their  sails  they  were 
torn  from  their  hands,  torn  from  the  masts,  or  if  they 
clung,  only  helped  to  tear  the  masts  from  the  hull  and 
the  rudder  from  the  stern.  I  am  not  shipman  enough 
to  tell  you  how  it  all  befell,  but  this  I  know  :  that  when 
the  morning  of  Saturday,  the  15th  day  of  August  in 
1635,  broke  in  such  fury  of  wind  and  rain  and  raging 
waves  as  I  never  beheld  before  or  since,  our  bark 
drove  furiously  upon  a  reef,  and  in  the  shock  went  all 
to  pieces,  carrying  ten  souls  into  eternity  before  one 
could  cry  God  have  mercy  upon  them  !  One  of  these 
was  Peter  Avery,  a  fine  lad,  who  had  gone  aft  to  fetch 
a  rope  whereby  to  bind  his  mother  to  the  stump  of  the 
foremast,  and  in  that  act  of  filial  charity  he  died." 

"  And  his  reward  is  with  God,"  murmured  the  Elder. 

"  We  who  survived,"  continued  Thacher,  "  speedily 
made  our  way  from  the  crumbling  wreck  to  the  rock 
between  whose  horns  our  bows  were  jammed ;  and 
hardly  were  we  all  off  when  the  last  timber  splintered 
beneath  the  hammer  of  the  surge,  and  we  were  left, 
thirteen  poor  shivering  wretches,  two  of  them  little 
babes  in  their  mothers'  arms,  clinging  desperately  to  that 
naked  rock,  the  helpless  prey  of  white-headed  waves 


246  BETTY  ALDEN. 

that  like  wild  beasts  ran  raging  along  the  sides  of  our 
poor  hold,  and  now  and  again  with  a  victorious  howl 
leaped  up  and  seized  first  one  and  then  another  of 
those  poor  little  ones  whom  neither  a  father's  arms  nor 
a  mother's  piteous  embrace  sufficed  to  save.  One  by 
one  they  went,  those  darlings  of  our  lives,  and  as  her 
infant  was  torn  from  her  arms,  Mary  Avery,  with  a  cry 
I  shall  never  forget,  grasped  after  it,  and  was  carried 
away  with  it.  Then  my  friend,  who  had  followed  them 
but  that  I  held  him  back,  struggled  to  his  knees  and 
prayed  aloud.  O  my  friends  !  when  I  remember  those 
words,  when  I  remember  that  face,  drenched  with  the 
storm,  blanched  by  the  blow  that  brake  his  heart,  yet 
luminous  as  was  Stephen's  in  his  martyrdom,  I  feel  like 
Paul  who,  being  caught  up  to  heaven,  saw  and  heard 
what  it  is  not  lawful  —  nay,  what  it  is  not  possible  — 
for  a  man  to  repeat." 

"Nay,  we  woul  •  not  hnve  yon  try,  my  son,"  whisj  er<  d 
the  Elder,  while  the  captain  folded  his  arms  and  grimly 
set  his  lips,  and  John  Alden  wept  without  disguise. 

"The  next  thing  I  recall,"  pursued  Thacher  softly, 
"  is  holding  my  cousin's  hand  and  saying  over  and  over, 
'  You  shall  not  leave  me,  John,  you  shall  not  leave  me  ! 
We  will  die  together  or  we  will  live  together ! '  and  I  see 
once  more  amid  the  whirl  and  torment  of  the  storm  the 
smile  wherewith  he  looked  me  in  the  face  and  said, ; — 

"  *  We  will  die  together,  Anthony,  and  please  God  we 
will  live  together  !  '  And  then,  while  some  loving  cry  to 
God  rose  afresh  from  his  lips,  canre  a  giant  wave  and 
tore  us  asunder,  and  I  knew  no  more  until  I  was  strug 
gling  in  the  waves  with  mine  arm  around  my  poor  wife, 
and  she  clinging  senseless  to  me. 

"  Then  all  His  waves  and  storms  went  over  me,  and  J 


AVERY'S  FALL  AND  TEACHER'S   WOE.    247 

yielded  up  my  spirit  to  Him  who  gave  it ;  but  it  was  not 
yet  purified  enough  to  go  where  my  friend  was  gone  be 
fore,  and  God  in  mercy  granted  me  yet  another  season 
of  probation.  When  the  Lord's  Day  broke,  it  found  me 
with  my  poor  wife  stretched  like  two  corpses  upon  the 
strand  of  a  little  islet  hard  by  the  rock  I  have  named 
Avery's  Fall,  and  beside  us  a  poor  goat,  who  all  un 
aided  or  uncared  for  had  come  safe  to  land.  My  poor 
wife  !  when  she  recovered  her  senses  and  looked  about 
her  and  knew  our  piteous  case,  who  can  blame  her  that 
she  cried,  — 

" '  A  wretched  goat  saved,  and  my  four  s \veet  babies 
drowned  !  Doth  God  then  care  for  oxen  ?  '  ' 

"  The  Father  of  us  all  can  forgive  the  misery  of  a 
mother's  heart,"  said  the  Elder,  but  Jonathan  Alden 
gravely  turned  away  his  head  and  looked  out  toward  the 
sea. 

"  Not  only  the  milch  goat,  but  a  cheese  and  a  rundlet 
of  beer  were  washed  ashore,"  pursued  Thacher,  "and  oh, 
piteous  sight !  the  cradle  whence  my  wife  had  snatched 
her  babe  came  floating  safe  ashore,  with  the  covering 
wrought  by  my  sister  in  England  for  our  first  darling, 
safe  in  the  bottom.  Like  Noah's  ark  with  the  dove 
flown  to  return  no  more,  it  seemed  to  us,  and  as  I 
dragged  the  cradle  ashore  and  my  poor  wife  sank  be 
side  it  and  buried  her  head  in  that  pretty  covering,  her 
mad  despair  gave  way  in  gracious  tears,  and  she  wept 
until  she  was  able  to  pray. 

"Thus,  then,  our  Lord's  Day  passed,  but  with  the 
Monday  came  rescue,  and  we  two  with  our  empty  cradle 
and  its  fair-wrought  spread,  and  the  poor  goat  whose 
life  had  hung  in  the  balance,  were  all  brought  first  to 
Boston,  and  then  to  Yarmouth." 


248  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  But  Thomas  was  not  with  you,  was  he  ?  "  asked 
Partridge  at  last,  breaking  his  intent  silence. 

"  Nay,  and  there  is  a  matter  wherein  the  Elder  may 
hold  me  as  superstitious  as  the  captain,"  replied  Thacher, 
forcing  a  smile ;  "  but  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  the 
Lord,  not  ready  to  take  him,  and  not  willing  to  try  him 
by  the  sharp  discipline  vouchsafed  to  me,  interposed 
with  a  special  Providence  in  his  behalf. 

"  Only  the  night  before  we  were  to  sail,  Thomas  had 
a  dream,  and,  like  Belshazzar  of  old,  he  could  not  in 
waking  remember  its  tenure,  but  only  its  terror.  Of  one 
thing,  however,  he  seemed  fully  assured,  and  that  was 
that  he  must  hot  sail  upon  our  voyage ;  and  so  strong 
and  terrible  was  his  dread  that  he  would  not  so  much  as 
come  to  see  us  off,  but  as  we  went  our  way  to  the  shore 
he  struck  into  the  forest  and  made  the  fifteen  miles  or 
so  afoot." 

*'  And  has  he  never  recalled  the  dream  ?  "  asked  Mr. 
Partridge,  with  a  look  askance  at  his  prospective  son-in- 
law  just  then  trying  to  snatch  a  rose  from  his  sweet 
heart's  hand. 

"  No  ;  that  is,  he  has  always  seemed  so  ill  at  ease  in 
talking  of  the  matter  that  we  have  let  it  drop.  It  runs 
in  my  mind  that  it  is  as  much  a  puzzlement  to  him  as  it 
can  be  to  others." 

"  '  There  be  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  than 
are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy '  or  in  mine,  quoth 
my  old  gossip  Will  Shakespeare,"  said  the  captain,  and 
Anthony  Thacher  heartily  replied,  — 

"  And  spake  the  truth  as  fairly  as  though  he  had 
worn  gown  and  bands.  A  great  student  of  men  was 
that  same  gossip  of  yours,  Captain." 

"  Ay,    and   a   rollicking  good   fellow.     I  knew   him 


AVERTS  FALL  AND  THACHER'S   WOE.    249 

well,  and  something  more  than  well,  in  the  time  I  was 
in  England  after  the  peace  of  1609,  and  in  certain  of 
his  plays  there  's  many  a  quip  and  quirk  shot  at  me  and 
my  poor  achievements.  Didst  ever  see  a  play  called 
*  Henry  the  Fourth  '  ?  " 

"Nay,  Captain,  I  was  never  in  a  playhouse  in  my 
life." 

"  More  's  your  loss,  friend.  Well,  in  that  play  there  "s 
a  bit  runs  like  this,  or  something  so  :  — 

— '  I  remember,  when  the  fight  was  done, 
When  I  was  dry  with  rage,  and  desprit  toil, 
Breathless  and  faint,  leaning-  upon  my  sword, 
Came  there  a  certain  lord,  neat,  trimly  dressed, 
Fresh  as  a  bridegroom  '  — 

Well,  I  '11  not  give  you  the  whole,  if  I  remember  it,  and 
't  is  years  since  I  thought  on 't,  but  a  little  later  it  goes 
forward  :  — 

'1  tli en,  a1!  smarting,  with  my  wounds  being  cold, 

To  be  so  pestered  with  a  popinjay, 

Out  of  my  grief  and  my  impatience, 

Answered  full  carelessly,  I  know  not  what ; 

He  should  or  he  should  not ;  for  't  made  me  mad 

To  see  him  shine  so  brisk,  and  smell  so  sweet, 

And  talk  so  like  a  waiting  gentlewoman 

Of  guns,  and  drums,  and  wounds,  (God  save  the  mark  !) 

And  telling  me  the  sovereign'st  thing  on  earth 

Was  parmaceti  for  an  inward  bruise  ; 

And  that  it  was  great  pity,  so  it  was, 

That  villainous  saltpetre  should  be  digged 

Out  of  the  bowels  of  the  harmless  earth, 

Which  many  a  good  tall  fellow  had  destroyed 

So  cowardly  ;  and  but  for  these  vile  guns, 

He  would  himself  have  been  a  soldier.' 

Oh,  well,  well,  but  I  must  laugh,  and  laugh  again  as 
I  mind  me  of  the  day  when  Will  Shakespeare  first 


BETTY  ALDEN. 

mouthed  those  lines  at  me,  and  I  stood  staring  like  a 
stuck  pig  to  hear  mine  own  words  so  bedded  in  his  poesy, 
like  flies  in  amber  in  very  sooth,  for  't  was  a  story  I 
had  told  him  of  a  matter  that  happened  to  myself  in 
the  Low  Countries  "  — 

"Alas,  my  son,"  interposed  the  Elder,  raising  his 
hand,  "  such  memories  suit  but  ill  with  the  lives  of  '  pil 
grims  and  strangers  '  like  ourselves." 

"  And  for  that  very  reason,  Elder,"  replied  Standish 
a  little  hotly,  "  when  you  and  Master  Partridge  and  the 
rest  besiege  me  to  become  a  church-member,  I  will  listen 
to  naught  of  it.  The  old  leaven  is  still  a-working  by  fits 
and  starts,  and  I  '11  do  no  such  despite  to  the  saints  as 
to  count  myself  into  their  company.  « Nay,  nay,  mine 
ancient/  says  Will  to  me  one  time  when  we  stood 
side  by  side  in  Paul's  Walk,  and  saw  a  grand  procession 
pass  us  by,  '  't  is  better  to  watch  the  lightning  than  to 
handle  it.'  " 

With  a  mischievous  glance  at  the  Rev.  Ralph  Par 
tridge,  Standish  resumed  his  pipe,  and  the  parson  wisely 
remained  silent. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

JEPHTHAH'S  DAUGHTER. 

ST.  MARTIN'S  summer  was  in  the  land ;  that  lovely 
parting  smile  of  the  year,  so  full  of  love,  so  full  of  rem 
iniscence  and  of  promise,  so  full  of  pathos  and  of  that 
vague  yearning  that  lies  at  the  core  of  every  heart,  and 
which  I  fancy  Bossuet  means  when  he  speaks  of  "  the 
inexorable  weariness  which  lurks  at  the  foundations  of 
all  our  lives." 

The  door  of  Standish's  cottage  stood  wide,  and  be 
tween  it  and  the  lattice  opening  upon  the  sea,  letting 
in  the  sweet  breath  of  marigolds  and  thyme  basking 
in  the  southern  sun,  Barbara  stepped  lightly  back  and 
forth,  spinning  from  her  great  wheel  the  fine  yarn  that 
would  be  woven  or  knit  into  the  winter  garments  of  the 
household. 

A  shadow  across  the  floor  made  her  turn,  quick  yet 
fearless  as  a  bird  building  in  a  tree  above  a  house  whose 
inmates  never  have  threatened  it. 

A  tall,  good-looking  young  man  stood  in  the  doorway, 
and  with  his  eyes  searched  the  room  before  he  said,  — 

"  Good-morrow,  dame.   Is  Lora  somewhere  at  hand  ?  '' 

"  Oh,  good-morrow,  Ras  !  Lora  has  gone  to  the  top 
of  the  hill  for  a  breath  of  evening  air.  It  has  been  so 
warm  to-day." 

"  Yes,  Hobomok  calls  it  the  Indian's  summer  because 
it  comes  just  before  winter,"  replied  Wrestling  Brews- 


252  BETTY  ALDEN. 

ter  absently ;  and  then  after  another  moment  of  hesita 
tion  he  pulled  off  his  wide  hat,  and  coming  close  to  the 
spinner's  side  fixed  his  eyes  upon  hers  with  a  shy  appeal 
while  he  asked,  — 

"  Do  you  think,  dame,  I  might  ask  her  ?  " 

"  Ask  her  what,  Ras  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Dame  Barbara,  you  know  full  well  what  I  fain 
•  would  ask." 

"  There  '11  be  an  apple-bee  at  your  house  or  at  Jona 
than's  this  week,  will  there  not  ?  " 

"  Ay,  at  Jonathan's  on  the  Thursday,  and  Lucretia 
bade  me  invite  you  all." 

"  Well,  then,  you  foolish  boy,  sure  that  is  your  errand 
to  Lora,  and  you  '11  find  her  on  the  hill,  most  like  at 
what  she  calls  her  sunset  seat." 

"  '  T  was  I  that  made  it  for  her,"  said  Wrestling 
eagerly,  and  Barbara,  smiling  in  the  way  matrons  smile 
at  transparent  youth,  replied,  — 

"  Then  you  know  where  it  is.     Go,  and  God  go  with 

you." 

"  My  grateful  duty  to  you,  dame,"  murmured  the 
young  fellow,  and  went  like  an  arrow  from  a  bow. 

A  half  hour  later  Barbara,  setting  her  wheel  aside, 
stepped  to  the  door  to  look  toward  the  hill,  and  to  judge 
by  the  position  of  the  sun  how  near  the  hour  might  be 
to  supper  time. 

Coming  up  from  the  shore  she  saw  her  husband,  and 
at  the  first  glance  knew  that  he  was  ill-pleased  ;  with 
this  conviction  came  a  foreboding  that  made  her  turn 
her  eyes  again  toward  the  hill,  but  now  it  was  the 
daughter,  and  not  the  sun,  for  which  she  looked. 

"  Where  's  Lora,  wife  ?  "  inquired  the  captain  so  soon 
as  he  was  within  speaking  distance. 


JEPHTHAH'S  DAUGHTER.  253 

"  She  went  out  an  hour  or  so  agone  for  a  stroll,"  re 
plied  the  mother  mildly.  "  She  has  been  so  steadily 
stitching  at  your  new  shirts,  Myles,  that  I  sent  her  to 
get  a  breath  of  fresh  air." 

"  Belike  it 's  she  I  saw  upon  the  hill ;  't  was  a  white 
gown,  at  all  events." 

"  And  like  you  no  longer  to  see  her  in  white  ?  "  asked 
Barbara,  apparently  in  great  surprise.  "  Why,  't  is  to 
please  you  she  wears  it,  though  it  makes  a  mort  of 
washing  for  poor  Hepsey.  But  where  hast  been  thy 
self,  goodman  ?  " 

"To  Plymouth,  and  Alice  Bradford  sends  you  a 
clutch  of  eggs  from  her  new  brought  fowls." 

k<  Nay,  but  that 's  more  than  kind  !  "  cried  Barbara. 
"  And  how  fares  she,  and  is  it  true  that  Prissie  Wright 
will  marry  Manasses  Kempton  ?  And  did  you  get  the 
grist  ground,  and  what  said  Miller  Jenney  of  not  having 
it  yesterday  ?  " 

"  Come,  come,  dame,  't  is  not  for  naught  your  tongue 
wags  like  Priscilla  Alden's  all  of  a  sudden.  Tell  me 
what  man  is  on  the  hill  with  our  Lora,  and  what  't  is 
you  're  keeping  from  me,  —  or  would  if  you  could. 
Out  with  it,  Bab !  who  's  the  man  I  saw  up  there  ?  " 

"  Nay,  Myles,  that 's  no  tone  for  you  to  take  towards 
me !  'T  is  not  one  of  the  children  nor  one  of  the  ser- 
\ants  you  're  speaking  to." 

"  What !  ruffling  her  feathers  like  a  Dame  Partlet  if 
you  try  to  steal  the  chickens  from  under  her  !  Nay,  wife, 
that  mood  's  as  strange  to  you  as  the  chattering  one,  and 
both  are  but  put  on  to  turn  my  mind  from  its  course  ;  but 
't  is  no  use,  Bab,  no  use  at  all.  Come,  now,  stop  these 
manoeuvres  and  ambushes  and  false  sallies  and  all  your 
simple  strategy,  and  meet  me  in  the  open  field.  Was  it 


254  BETTY  ALDEN. 

Wrestling  Brewster  that  I  saw  sitting  with  Lora  on  her 
sunset  seat  ?  " 

"I  know  not  what  you  saw,  Myles,  but  I  know  that 
Wrestling  Brewster  went  up  there  to  find  Lora  some-1 
thing  like  a  half  hour  ago." 

"  And  you  knew  it  ?  " 

"  I  sent  him." 

"  You  sent  him  !      And  for  what  ?  " 

"  For  naught  more  than  to  find  her,  but  I  can  guess 
his  errand  though  he  told  it  not." 

"  Oh !  And  might  the  father  of  the  maid  venture 
so  much  as  to  ask  what  this  errand  might  be  ?  " 

"  Nay,  Myles,  be  not  so  bitter  !  If  I  cannot  go  with 
you  in  this  matter,  't  is  because  I  love  my  child  even 
more  than  you  can  love  her." 

"  Love  your  child !  Love  your  own  way  and  your 
own  will,  as  you  ever  have  done  !  Woman,  do  you  defy 
me?" 

"  Oh,  Myles,  Myles  !  "  And  fearlessly  approaching 
the  angry  man,  Barbara  laid  a  hand  upon  his  arm  and 
looked  straight  into  his  face  with  all  her  brave  and 
noble  soul  shining  out  of  those  eyes  whose  wonderful 
charm  time  had  not  clouded  in  the  least.  The  captain 
met  them,  and  the  terror  of  his  frown  subsided  into  an 
angry  laugh. 

"  Well  —  you  should  not  thwart  me  if  you  would  not 
see  me  thwarted.  But  honestly,  Barbara,  have  you 
forgotten  or  do  you  despise  my  constant  wish  for  Lora's 
future  ?  Must  I  mind  you  once  more  of  my  contract 
with  my  cousin  Ralph  whereby  his  eldest  son  is  to 
marry  our  daughter,  and  so  to  her  and  her  children 
shall  be  restored  the  fair  domain  which  his  grand  sire 
stole  from  mine  ?  Know  you  not  that  naught  in  all  this 


JEPHTHAH'S  DAUGHTER.  255 

world  sits  nearer  to  my  heart  than  this  scheme,  and  that 
only  last  month  I  wrote  to  Ralph  and  told  him  that 
Lora  was  now  turned  eighteen,  and  if  his  boy  was  ready 
to  fulfill  the  contract  I  would  come  to  England  with 
the  maid,  and  see  her  seated  at  Standish  Hall  ?  Mind 
you  all  that,  Mistress  Barbara  ?  " 

"  Ay,  Myles,  I  mind  it  well,  and  I  mind  too  that  you 
did  not  tell  me  of  that  letter  till  't  was  gone." 

"  Haply  not,  but  what  of  that  ?  Is  a  man  bound  to 
lay  all  his  business  before  his  wife,  or  to  ask  her  leave 
to  write  to  his  own  kinsman?  " 

"'Tis  my  kinsman  in  the  same  degree,  mind  you, 
husband.  And  because  I  too  am  born  of  Standish  I 
have  a  right  to  speak,  I  have  a  right  to  know,  and  to 
decide  in  this  matter,  —  yes,  as  good  a  right  as  yours, 
Myles." 

"Oho!  'T  is  a  cartel  of  battle,  is  it?  Partlet 
against  Chanticleer,  eh  ?  Well,  our  cousins  the  Stan- 
dislies  of  Duxbury  carry  a  gamecock  for  their  crest,  and 
I  '11  e'en  borrow  his  spurs." 

"  Oh,  Myles,  Myles  !  This  over-weening  ambition  of 
thine  hath  turned  thy  brain  !  When  till  now  didst  ever 
treat  me  thus  ?  " 

"  Nay,  I  '11  not  be  wheedled  with  soft  touch,  nor  tear 
ful  eyen,  nor  broken  voice.  There,  there,  let  go  mine 
arm  and  wipe  thy  tears  away  !  Why,  thou  foolish  lass, 
dost  not  know  I  'd  liever  face  a  tribe  of  Pequods  than 
see  thee  weep  ?  Tut,  tut,  silly  wench,  give  me  a  kiss 
and  be  done  with  it.  What  chance  hath  Samson  when 
Delilah  cries  ?  " 

"  But,  dear  my  lord,  listen  now  that  your  mood  is 
somewhat  softened.  How  can  you  be  so  sure  that  this 
great  marriage  will  make  our  dear  maid  happy  ?  You 


256  BETTY  ALDEN. 

know  how  tender  and  how  sensitive  she  is  ;  you  know 
how  she  clings  to  love,  and  seems  to  draw  her  life  from 
us  as  the  flowers  do  from  the  sun ;  sure  am  I,  as  sure 
as  of  to-day's  breath,  that  parted  from  home  and  father 
and  mother  and  brothers  and  friends  and  all  she  has 
ever  loved  and  clung  to,  our  Lora  would  droop  and  die 
just  as  that  sea-bird  did  that  the  boys  caught  and  tried 
to  tame." 

"  And  if  she  did  !  "  cried  the  captain,  flaming  again 
into  sudden  wrath,  the  reflex  perhaps  of  a  stinging  pain 
driven  through  his  heart  by  his  wife's  last  words.  "  Had 
not  she  better  die  as  mistress  of  Standish  Hall  and  be 
buried  with  her  ancestors  in  the  tomb  of  the  Standishes 
than  to  vegetate  here  as  the  wife  of  Wrestling  Brewster 
and  fill  a  nameless  grave  in  these  wilds  ?  " 

"  Since  God  has  forsaken  you  and  the  Evil  One 
seized  upon  your  mind,  I  have  naught  more  to  say," 
returned  Barbara,  thoroughly  angry  on  her  own  side ; 
and  as  she  turned  into  the  house  Standish,  with  a  black 
frown  darkening  his  whole  presence,  strode  away  to 
ward  the  hill. 

Almost  an  hour  earlier  Wrestling  Brewster,  making 
his  way  softly  over  the  fallen  leaves  and  ripe  mosses 
of  the  hillside  path,  had  stolen  unawares  upon  as  fair 
a  picture  as  Captain's  Hill  has  ever  seen,  or  ever  shall 
while  time  and  earth  endure. 

Very  nearly  where  the  monument  stands  to-day,  there 
then  grew  a  clump  of  oaks,  and  between  two  of  them  had 
been  fixed  a  commodious  bench,  with  a  back  quaintly 
carved  and  ornamented  with  a  border  of  red  cedar. 
From  this  vantage-point  could  be  seen  a  fairer  view 
than  that  of  to-day,  for  man  had  not  yet  conquered 
Nature,  nor  substituted  his  uncouth  and  commonplace 
works  for  her  perfection. 


JEPHTHAWS  DAUGHTER.  257 

Clark's  Island,  still  covered  with  its  primeval  cedars 
and  with  its  northern  headland  unwasted  and  majestic, 
lay  like  a  bower  upon  the  great  field  of  flowing  water, 
and  matched  Saquish,  still  an  island,  but  beginning  to 
throw  out  tentative  arms  toward  the  Gurnet's  Head, 
where  six  hundred  years  before  Thorwald,  brother  of 
Leif,  wounded  unto  death  by  the  savages,  desired  to 
be  buried,  with  a  cross  at  his  head  and  another  at  his 
feet,  directing  that  the  headland  should  thenceforth  be 
known  as  Krossness.  Toward  these  yearned  the  lov 
ing  arm  thrown  out  by  Manomet  toward  the  Duxbury 
shore,  —  that  arm  now  reduced  to  a  barren  sandspit,  but 
then  a  green  and  fruit-laden  peninsula ;  and  within  it 
glittered  in  the  evening  light  the  harbor,  deep  enough  at 
that  day  to  float  not  only  the  Mayflower,  but  Captain 
Pierce's  Lyon,  which  now  lay  snugly  anchored  there, 
while  the  governor's  barge  rowed  away  toward  the  town, 
bearing  Bradford  and  Winslow  home  with  the  jolly 
mariner  as  their  guest.  Blue  smoke-wreaths  floating 
idly  upward  from  Plymouth  cottages  told  of  housewives 
busy  with  the  evening  meal,  and  upon  the  crest  of 
Burying  Hill  a  twinkling  gleam  now  and  again  showed 
that  Lieutenant  Holmes  did  not  suffer  the  brasswork  of 
the  colony's  guns  to  grow  dim  now  that  they  had  come 
under  his  care. 

But  closer  at  hand  than  these  things  stretched  the 
marshes,  the  beautiful  Duxbury  marshes  with  their 
grasses  full  grown  and  ripe,  reposing  under  the  sunset 
light  like  a  fair  garden,  where  great  masses  of  color  lay 
in  harmonious  contrast,  and  the  heavy  heads  of  seed 
bent,  and  rippled,  and  rustled  to  the  evening  breeze, 
murmuring  sweet  secrets  that  he  carried  straight  out  to 
sea  and  buried  there. 


258  BETTY  ALDEN. 

O  man,  man !  Lay  out  your  modern  gardens,  and 
mass  your  pelargoniums  and  calceolarias  and  begonias 
and  salvias  and  the  rest,  in  beds  of  contrasting  color,  and 
then,  if  you  would  note  your  improvement  upon  ancient 
methods,  go  in  the  autumn  and  look  at  the  marshes  of 
the  Old  Colony,  laid  out  by  Mother  Nature  before  Thor- 
wald  selected  Krossness  first  as  his  chosen  home,  and 
then  his  chosen  grave. 

So  fair,  so  wonderful,  so  entrancing,  lay  the  view  that 
evening  at  the  foot  of  Captain's  Hill,  yet  Wrestling 
Brewster,  albeit  a  man  of  singular  delicacy  of  perception, 
never  saw  it ;  saw  nothing,  in  fact,  but  the  lissome  form 
of  a  young  maid  clothed  in  white  samite,  with  pale 
golden  hair  wound  around  her  head  and  held  by  quaint 
silver  pins  with  crystal  heads  that  now  and  again  caught 
the  light  and  sent  it  flashing  back  like  the  aureole  of  a 
saint.  The  great  gray  eyes,  wide  open  beneath  their 
level  brows,  were  steadfastly  fixed  upon  some  point  far 
out  at  sea,  the  vanishing  point  of  earth's  curve,  the  point 
where  the  straightforward  look  of  human  eyes  glides  off 
the  surface  of  the  globe  and  penetrates  the  ether  beyond. 
What  vision  arose  before  the  maiden's  eyes  in  that  dim 
horizon  realm?  What  thought  or  what  dream  parted 
the  soft  mouth,  and  tinged  the  pure  pallor  of  the  cheek  ? 
What  meant  the  sigh  that  just  stirred  the  flower  at  her 
throat  ? 

So  asked  the  heart  of  the  young  man  standing  motion 
less  and  devout  in  the  edge  of  the  little  grove,  until  with 
the  feeling  of  one  who  intrudes  upon  sacred  mysteries 
he  withdrew  his  gaze,  and  rustled  the  twigs  of  the  shrub 
beside  him.  The  girl  turned  quickly,  and  as  she  met 
his  eyes  smiled  gently. 

"  Oh,  is  it  you,  Ras  ?     I  'm  glad  you  came." 


JEPHTHAITS  DAUGHTER.  259 

"  Are  you,  Lora  ?  Are  you  glad  I  came  ?  And  I  am 
glad  that  you  are  glad." 

"  'T  is  so  fair,  so  heavenly  a  scene  that  I  would  all 
I  love  might  enjoy  it  as  well  as  I." 

"  Lora !  All  you  love,  say  you  ?  Oh,  Lora,  do  you 
love  me  ?  " 

"  Ras  !  Nay,  let  us  not  speak  of  just  ourselves ;  we 
are  so  little  and  the  sky  is  so  great." 

"  The  sky,  dear  ?  But  the  sky  and  the  sea  and  the 
forest,  they  are  always  here,  and  we  may  look  at  them 
all  our  lives  long,  —  all  our  lives,  Lora,  our  two  lives  that 
might  be  one." 

The  gray  eyes,  still  full  of  dreams,  still  questioning  the 
far-off  depths  of  the  skies  beyond  the  sea,  reluctantly 
turned  and  rested  fearlessly  upon  the  eager  and  troubled 
face  of  the  young  man. 

"What  is  it,  Ras  dear  ?  Why  are  you  so  —  so  troubled 
is  it  ?  Why  don't  you  sit  down  here  beside  me  and  look 
as  we  have  looked  so  often  upon  all  this  beauty  ?  It 
was  so  good  of  you,  Ras,  to  make  this  seat  for  me.  It  is 
the  happiest  place  I  know  in  all  the  world." 

"  Then  make  it  happiest  to  me,  darling,  by  letting  it 
be  the  place  of  our  betrothal.  Oh,  Lora,  I  thought  you 
knew,  —  I  thought  you  understood,  and  —  and  —  yes,  I 
even  dared  to  hope  that  you,  just  in  some  far-off  maid 
enly,  saintly  fashion,  felt  somewhat  the  love  that  de 
vours  me  like  death  until  I  know  for  certain  that  it  is 
returned,  and  then  indeed  shall  I  pass  from  death  unto 
life.  Speak,  Lora,  —  speak  for  God's  dear  sake,  speak 
to  me." 

"  But  why  are  you  so  moved,  Ras,  and  why  after  all 
these  years  of  love  and  friendliness  do  you  beg  me  as  if 
I  were  some  stranger  to  say  that  I  love  you  ?  " 


260  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Lora  !     Lora  !     You  break  my  heart !  " 

"  Oh,  Ras,  dear  dear  Ras  !  Don't  look  so,  don't  speak 
so !  There  are  very  tears  in  your  eyes,  and  see,  they  call 
the  tears  to  mine  !  Why  truly,  dear  Ras,  I  love  you, 
I  love  you  dearly,  as  well  as  I  love  Alick  or  Josias,  — — 
as  well  as  I  love  Betty  Alden,  who  is  the  dearest  friend 
I  have,  as  well  as  "  — 

"  Stop,  stop,  for  pity's  sake !  I  thought  I  suffered 
before,  but  oh,  Lora,  you  have  given  me  my  death 
blow." 

"  Nay,  what  is  it,  what  is  it  I  have  done  ?  What  a 
wicked  wretch  I  am  to  grieve  you  so,  but  how  is  it, 
dear  ?  Indeed  I  do  love  you,  Ras,  I  do  indeed  !  " 

"  Yes,  you  love  me  as  a  child  loves,  as  an  angel  loves, 
as  you  loved  me  years  ago  when  I,  already  come  to  man's 
estate,  watched  you  growing  to  womanhood  like  a  sweet 
flower,  and  vowed  that  you,  and  none  but  you,  should  be 
my  wife ;  and  for  the  sake  of  that  vow  and  for  love  of 
you,  —  yes,  an  ever  growing  love  of  you,  mine  own  sweet 
love,  —  I  have  never  looked  upon  a  maiden's  face  save 
as  a  woman  might.  I  have  cared  so  little  for  their  com 
pany  that  they  flout  me  "  — 

"Yes,  they  call  you  the  old  bachelor,"  interrupted 
Lora,  half  merrily  and  half  penitently.  "  But  I  never 
once  dreamed  it  was  for  love  of  me  you  held  yourself 
so  strange  to  all  the  others.  But  now  I  do  know,  Ras, 
it  seems  no  more  than  honest  that  you  should  have  what 
you  have  waited  for,  and  if  you  want  me  for  your  wife, 
and  my  father  and  my  mother  make  no  objection,  why 
I  will  please  you  thus  far." 

"  You  will  —  you  will  be  my  wife  !  "  exclaimed 
Wrestling.  "  Oh,  Lora,  do  you  mean  it  ?  Do  you  really, 
really  mean  that  you  will  be  my  wife  ?  " 


JEPHTHAWS  DAUGHTER.  261 

"  It  seems  to  me,  young  man,  that  I  have  somewhat  to 
say  in  this  matter,"  broke  in  a  strident  voice,  and  Lora 
looked  up  in  dismay  at  her  father's  face,  very  angry, 
very  ominous,  yet  not  turned  upon  her.  At  a  later  day 
Myles  Standish  was  glad  to  remember  that  even  in  this 
extremity  he  never  spoke  one  angry  word,  or  cast  one 
angry  look  to  the  child  who  was  the  idol  of  his  life. 

"Oh  —  Captain  Standish !  "  stammered  Wrestling, 
springing  to  his  feet. 

"  Yes,  Master  Brewster,  Captain  Standish  at  your  ser 
vice,  who  ventures  to  suggest  that  you  might  have  done 
better  to  ask  his  leave  before  urging  his  daughter  to 
defy  his  wishes." 

"  Oh,  father !  "  And  Lora,  rising  to  her  slender  height, 
stepped  forward  and  fearlessly  slid  a  soft  little  hand 
into  the  captain's  brawny  half-closed  fist.  "  Defy  you, 
father !  "  murmured  she,  looking  into  his  face  with  eyes 
of  loving  reproach,  "  nay,  I  never  could  do  that." 

"  I  know  it,  my  pet,  I  know  it ;  but  there,  make  you 
home  as  soon  as  ever  you  may  —  mother  is  waiting  for 
you  —  run  away,  child,  run." 

"  Nay,  father,  but  I  fain  would  know  first  why  you 
are  so  angry  with  my  dear  friend  Ras.  He  says  he 
loves  me  very  much,  and  he  wants  me  to  be  his  wife, 
and  I  love  him  too,  and  if  you  please  to  have  it  so,  I 
said  I  would  marry  him  "  — 

"  As  you  might  have  said  you  would  take  a  sail  with 
him  ! "  exclaimed  the  captain  with  angry  fondness  in 
his  tone ;  but  the  fondness  died  away  as  his  eyes  turned 
from  the  fair  face  of  his  daughter  to  the  flushed  and 
anxious  one  of  her  suitor,  while  he  said,  — 

"  You  may  see  for  yourself,  Wrestling  Brewster,  that 
this  child  knows  not  the  meaning  of  marriage  love.  She 


262  BETTY  ALDEN. 

is  no  fonder  of  you  than  of  —  say  Betty  Alden,  or  may- 
hap  her  pet  cat  "  — 

"Nay,  nay,  father,  I  must  not  let  that  go  unsaid! 
Not  love  Ras  better  than  I  do  Moppet !  Oh,  but  Idol" 

"  Lora,  if  you  will  stay  here,  do  not  speak  again  until 
I  speak  to  you,"  commanded  the  father  sternly. 

"  I  would  not  be  harsh  upon  you,  young  sir,  for  you 
are  son  of  mine  honored  friend,  Elder  Brewster,  and  I 
believe  a  worthy  son,  but  you  did  amiss,  yes,  shrewdly 
amiss,  in  speaking  to  my  daughter  before  you  did  to 
me." 

Wrestling's  lips  opened  and  closed  again.  He  was 
about  to  say  that  Lora's  mother  knew  of  his  suit,  but  in 
the  captain's  mood,  that  plea  might  only  have  brought 
down  wrath  upon  his  wife's  head. 

"  I  have  not  found  it  fitting  to  tell  all  my  affairs  to 
all  my  neighbors,"  pursued  Standish  haughtily.  "  But 
I  have  mine  own  intent  with  regard  to  my  daughter, 
and  that  intent  is  not  to  marry  her  in  this  colony.  Let 
that  be  answer  enough  for  you,  Master  Wrestling,  and  if 
you  like,  you  may  advertise  any  other  aspiring  youth 
that  designs  to  honor  my  daughter  with  an  offer  that  it 
is  but  needless  mortification,  for  my  answer  will  be  to 
all  as  it  is  to  you,  —  nay,  nay,  nay  !  " 

And  with  the  last  word  Myles  placed  his  daughter's 
hand  under  his  arm  and  led  her  down  the  hill,  leaving 
Wrestling  to  cast  himself  prone  upon  the  sunset  seat,  his 
face  hidden  upon  the  back  of  it,  and  his  eyes  smarting 
with  the  tears  his  manhood  refused  to  allow  to  flow. 

Almost  at  home,  Standish,  looking  with  anxious  love 
into  the  lily  face  at  his  shoulder,  said,  — 

"  Poppet,  you  're  not  over-sorry,  are  you  ?  Why 
don't  you  speak  to  me  ?  " 


JEPHTHAWS  DAUGHTER.  2(33 

"  You  bade  me  not  speak  until  you  spoke  to  me,  father 
dear.  Nay,  but  I  am  sorry,  heartily  sorry,  you  should 
have  chided  Ras  so  hardly.  Poor  lad !  He  was  fit  to 
cry  when  we  left  him." 

"  But  you  do  not  really  care  for  him,  dear  child?  You 
are  not  set  upon  becoming  his  —  his  wife  ?  " 

"  Nay,  father,  I  do  not  care  to  be  any  man's  wife. 
I  would  far  fainer  stay  at  home  with  you  and  mother, 
but  Ras  seemed  so  keen  upon  the  matter  and  declared  I 
loved  him  not,  that  to  make  him  content  I  said  yes ;  for 
indeed  I  do  love  him,  father,  more  than  I  love  any  man 
after  you  and  the  boys." 

"  Ha,  ha  !  My  little  lass,  there  '11  come  a  day  when 
the  boys,  and  haply  your  poor  old  dad  as  well,  will  fly 
down  the  wind  like  thistledown  before  the  love  that 
still  lieth  sound  asleep  in  my  maid's  pure  heart." 

"  Nay,  father,  not  asleep,  but  too  dear  and  too  holy 
to  be  spoken  of,"  murmured  Lora,  a  soft  flush  upon  her 
cheek,  a  tender  light  in  her  eyes  as  she  raised  them  to 
her  father's  face. 

"  What !  what !  "  stammered  he,  half  affrighted  lest 
the  girl  had  lost  her  senses.  "You  love  some  one 
already !  " 

"  Oh,  father,  so  much,  so  dearly  !  'T  is  for  that  I 
love  to  go  and  sit  all  alone  there  upon  the  brow  of  the 
hill,  where  I  may  see  the  beauty  He  has  made  and  gaze 
away  and  away  into  the  heavens  where  He  lives.  Sure 
the  hills  of  Judah  were  not  so  lovely  as  this  place,  and 
who  can  tell  but  some  day  He  may  descend  and  stand 
visibly  upon  them  "  — 

"  Aha  !  "  breathed  the  captain,  stopping  short  and  gaz 
ing  appalled  upon  the  face  of  the  girl,  set  seaward,  with 
a  half  smile  upon  its  lips  and  a  look  of  yearning  love  in 


264  BETTY  ALDEN. 

the  unfathomable  eyes.  But  as  he  gazed  she  turned, 
and  throwing  an  arm  around  his  neck  hid  her  face  upon 
his  breast  with  a  sobbing  sigh. 

"  Oh,  father  dear,  I  'm  sorry  I  tried  to  speak  about 
what  no  words  can  tell.  Don't  talk  to  mother  or  to  any 
one,  will  you,  dear,  and  please  do  not  ask  me  again. 
'T  is  so  precious  and  so  wonderful,  and  't  is  all  the  love 
I  ever  want  beyond  my  home  loves.  You  won't  talk 
about  it,  daddy  dear,  will  you  ?  " 

"  One  word,  Lora.  You  mean  that  your  love  is  given 
to  God  alone  ?  " 

"  To  Him  who  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me 

to  Him  who  is  chief  among  ten  thousand  and  altogether 
lovely  —  to  the  King  in  his  beauty  in  the  land  that  is 
very  far  off." 

"  My  child,  my  child  !  "  groaned  the  father,  drawing 
the  girl's  form  close  to  his  thickly  beating  heart  and 
pressing  his  lips  upon  her  brow,  while  Jephthah's  agony 
turned  him  sick  and  white,  and  his  eyes  rose  with  an 
almost  angry  protest  to  the  skies. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

GILLIAN. 

THE  apple-bee  at  Jonathan  Brewster's  house  by  the 
Eagle's  Tree,  where  The  Nook  merges  into  Harden 
Hill,  was  in  full  tide,  and  one  could  hear  the  merry 
voices  of  men  and  maidens,  and  the  cheerful  shrilling 
of  matrons  talking  above  the  din,  before  one  reached 
the  house.  Beneath  a  clump  of  trees  surrounding  the 
great  cedar  known  as  the  Eagle's  Tree  a  number  of 
horses  were  tied  with  comfortable  measures  of  corn  and 
trusses  of  hay  before  them,  and  in  the  little  cove  lay 
half  a  dozen  or  so  boats  uneasily  tumbling  upon  the 
incoming  tide.  These  conveyances  had  brought  the 
remoter  dwellers  in  the  new  town  of  Duxbury  and  its 
neighborhood  :  the  Aldens  from  Eagle  Tree  Pond,  the 
De  la  Noyes  from  Stony  Brook,  the  Soules  from  Powder 
Point,  the  Constant  Southworths  from  North  River,  the 
Rowlands  from  Island  Creek,  the  Bassetts  from  Beaver 
Pond,  and  the  Abraham  Samsons  from  Bluefish  River 
where  they  lived  neighbors  to  the  Aldens  and  intermar 
ried  with  them. 

Of  The  Nook  people  who  came  on  foot,  the  Stan- 
dishes,  and  Brewsters,  and  Pabodies,  and  Prences,  and 
Colliers,  and  Doctor  Comfort  Starr,  the  new  physician, 
with  his  family,  and  the  Partridges,  and  Wadsworths, 
and  others,  had  mustered  strong  and  in  every  variety  of 
condition,  age,  and  sex ;  for  our  ancestors,  having  far 


266  BETTY  ALDEN. 

fewer  opportunities  of  amusement  than  we  have,  made 
a  great  deal  more  of  each  one  as  it  came  along,  and 
not  only  sucked  the  juice  from  their  orange,  but  ate 
every  bit  of  the  pulp.  The  apple-bee  was  but  a  pre 
lude  to  the  evening's  entertainment,  and  for  weeks  be 
fore,  every  young  girl  in  the  colony  had  planned  her 
dress  and  simple  ornaments,  and  dreamed  of  some  face 
or  voice  that  should  belong  to  her  own  especial  Robin 
Adair,  or  of  the  games  and  the  songs  and  haply  the 
contradances  that  might  be  permitted  when  the  church- 
members  had  withdrawn ;  and  Lucretia  Brewster,  with 
her  daughter  Mary  and  Love's  wife  Sarah,  and  such 
fantastic  aid  as  Gillian  had  chosen  to  bestow,  had  been 
for  a  week  busy  in  preparing  the  house  and  a  big  shed 
just  finished,  for  the  reception  of  the  expected  guests 
and  their  steeds. 

Gillian  !  Well,  Gillian !  And  when  one  has  said  her 
name  the  subject  widens  until  it  becomes  impossible  to 
handle.  Niece  of  Lucretia  Brewster,  whose  sister  had 
married  a  Spaniard,  this  Gillian,  left  a  deserted  orphan 
in  some  foreign  port,  had  drifted  back  to  England,  and 
thence  to  New  England,  where  a  year  or  so  before  the 
apple-bee  she  had  arrived  by  hand  of  Captain  William 
Pierce,  consigned  along  with  a  present  of  kersey  and 
Hollands  linen  to  Jonathan  Brewster  by  a  cousin  who 
claimed  that,  as  Lucretia  was  the  girl's  nearest  relative, 
her  maintenance  should  fall  upon  Lucretia's  husband. 
At  first  the  charge  was  joyfully  accepted,  for  Gillian 
was  just  the  age  of  Mary,  Jonathan's  only  daughter,  and 
would  be  a  sister  to  her,  as  they  said.  But  as  the  weeks 
and  months  went  on  both  Mary  and  her  mother  grew 
silent  upon  the  subject  of  the  new  sister,  while  Jona 
than,  and  his  sons  William  and  Jonathan  and  Benjamin, 


GILLIAN.  2G7 

never  ceased  to  congratulate  the  women  and  each  other 
upon  the  joy  and  delight  of  her  presence  ;  the  father 
especially  often  calling  upon  his  wife  to  recognize  how  in 
this  case  virtue  had  brought  its  own  reward,  and  their 
benevolence  to  the  orphan  received  a  blessing  of  singular 
richness  almost  in  the  first  moments  of  its  exercise. 

To  these  pious  thanksgivings  Lucretia  Brewster,  who 
was  a  very  discreet  woman,  never  offered  any  contra 
diction  ;  but  when  next  her  husband  found  some  little 
matter  essential  to  his  comfort  neglected,  or  some  detail 
of  the  rigid  family  rule  calmly  set  aside,  the  gentle  ex 
planation  was,  "  I  left  it  to  Gillian  to  do ;  "  or,  "  It  was 
Gillian  who  chose  to  do  it  in  spite  of  all  I  said.'' 

On  these  occasions  Gillian  sometimes  came  by  a  little 
reprimand,  not  half  as  severe,  so  Mary  jealously  re 
marked,  as  was  administered  to  her  very  lightest  offense, 
but  apparently  more  than  Gillian  could  bear,  for  before 
it  was  half  over  she  would  fall  into  such  a  passion  of 
tears  and  sobs  as  seemed  fit  to  rend  her  white  throat 
asunder,  and  either  crouch  moaning  upon  the  floor  in 
some  corner  like  a  wounded  creature,  or  rush  headlong 
from  the  house  to  the  woods,  where  she  would  hide  all 
day  long,  and  once  all  night  long,  although  Brewster 
and  his  three  sons  searched  and  called  for  her  till  sun 
rise,  when  she  appeared  on  the  edge  of  a  thicket,  her 
wonderful  deep  red  hair  hanging  all  matted  and  tangled, 
with  briers  around  her  shoulders,  her  great  passionate 
Spanish  eyes  dilated  and  full  of  gloomy  fire,  and  her 
mouth,  that  bewildering,  tempting,  ripe  red  mouth,  with 
its  myriad  expressions  and  suggestions,  its  curves  and 
dimples,  and  its  little  laughing  teeth,  all  drawn  and 
pale. 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that,  after  the  first  few  times, 


268  BETTY  ALDEN. 

the  uncle  and  guardian  ceased  to  attempt  even  the  dis 
cipline  of  a  reproof,  especially  as  for  days  after  one  of 
these  passions  the  girl  would  shrink  out  of  his  presence 
with  every  mark  of  terror,  and  if  he  spoke  to  her,  reply 
in  hurried,  timorous  accents,  with  the  air  of  one  who 
dreads  to  give  offense,  and  fears  unmerited  blame  or 
misunderstanding. 

So  at  last  it  came  to  pass  that  Gillian  did  what  she 
would,  and  left  undone  what  she  chose,  and  quietly  set 
ting  at  naught  all  Lucretia's  admonitions  or  attempts  at 
control,  was  ever  bright  and  charming  to  her  uncle,  and 
remained  a  wonder  and  a  fascination  to  the  boys,  who 
were  all  wildly  in  love  with  her,  a  condition  shared  by 
nearly  every  unmarried  man  in  the  Old  Colony. 

As  for  Mary,  good,  homely,  ungraceful,  slow  moulded 
Mary  Brewster,  she  wore  herself  thin  and  peevish  in 
struggling  against  the  innate  depravity  of  her  own  heart 
which  continually  urged  her  to  hate  Gillian  with  a  bitter 
hatred,  more  especially  when  John  Turner,  of  Scituate, 
came  a-wooing,  and  Gillian,  having  contemplated  his 
courtship  during  a  few  visits,  picked  him  up  as  a  kitten 
might  a  great  lumbering  beetle,  tossed  him  hither  and 
yon,  patted  him  with  her  velvet  paws,  suddenly  thrust 
sharp  claws  through  the  velvet,  gave  him  one  or  two  con 
temptuous  buffets  to  this  side  and  to  that,  and  finally 
walked  away,  purring  serene  indifference. 

John  Turner  was  perhaps  the  only  man  at  the  apple- 
bee  who  saw  nothing  to  admire  in  Gillian,  and  Mary 
never  looked  her  way.  But  Betty  liked  her,  and  now, 
as  the  girl  flitted  into  the  great  kitchen  where  around 
the  baskets  and  piles  of  apples,  brought  together  from 
all  the  neighborhood  for  Lucretia  Brewster  to  dry  in  her 
own  superlative  fashion,  crowded  the  maids  and  matrons, 


GILLIAN.  269 

who  pared  and  cored,  and  quartered  or  sliced,  the  rosy 
fruit,  it  was  Betty  Alden  who  cried,  — 

"  Oh,  Jill,  is  that  you  ?  Come  help  me  string  these 
slices.  These  are  our  own  apples,  and  mother  wants  to 
keep  them  separate  from  the  rest,  so  Sally  and  Ruthy 
and  I  are  doing  them." 

"  Did  your  brother  Jo  pick  them  ? "  asked  Gillian, 
sinking  down  in  her  peculiar  and  graceful  fashion  upon 
the  floor,  beside  Betty,  but  not  offering  to  take  the 
needle  threaded  with  coarse  flax  that  Sally  held  toward 
her. 

"  Jo  and  David  picked  them,  you  naughty  girl,  and 
talked  of  naught  but  you  while  they  did  it." 

"  Betty,  Betty,  here  's  Alick  Standish  coming  this  way, 
and  don't  you  blush ;  now  mind  you,  Betty,  don't  you 
blush  !  Fie  !  but  you  do !  What  makes  her  hate  Alick 
so,  Sally  ?  "  asked  Gillian  maliciously. 

"  Who  hates  Alick  ?  "  asked  the  cheery  voice  of  the 
good-looking  "  heir  apparent "  of  Myles  Standish,  who 
had  obeyed  a  glance  of  Gillian's  eyes  and  joined  the 
group. 

"  Who  but  the  one  who  colors  red  as  fire  with  vexa 
tion  when  he  draws  nigh,"  replied  the  girl  coolly ;  and 
Standish,  curiously  regarding  the  faces  of  the  three,  per 
ceived  that  both  Betty's  and  Sally's  faces  were  aflame, 
while  Gillian's  cream-white  skin  looked  cool  as  a  calla 
lily. 

"  Are  you  paring  the  apples  I  picked,  Gillian  ? " 
asked  another  voice  as  David  Alden  joined  the  group. 

"  Nay,  for  't  was  Satan  who  first  plucked  an  apple  for 
a  woman,"  replied  Jill,  with  a  mocking  little  laugh  ;  and 
Alick  whispered  in  her  ear,  "  There  's  ne'er  a  son  of 
Adam  would  refuse  if  you  offered  him  the  apple,  Gillian." 


270  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  What !  not  if  he  lost  Paradise  thereby  ?  " 

"  The  paradise  of  your  love  would  "  — 

"  Oh,  Master  Pabodie,  do  come  and  reason  with  these 
terrible  blasphemers  who  are  talking  of  Satan  and  no 
body  can  tell  what  else.  Say  to  Master  Pabodie  what 
you  were  saying  to  me,  Alick  !  " 

Thus  dared,  the  young  man  looked  half  of  mind  to 
accept  the  challenge,  but  John  Pabodie,  shrewdly  glan 
cing  at  the  audacious  girl,  replied,  "  Nay,  mistress,  I  'm 
twenty  years  too  old  and  haply  twenty  years  too  young 
to  cope  with  such  a  matter.  But  here  's  my  son  Wil 
liam  just  come  home  from  Boston  and  farther,  and  I  '11 
leave  him  to  fill  the  place  of  Paris,  if  one  may  quote  the 
old  mythologies  in  a  Christian  land." 

"  Surely,  when  such  a  Helen  rises  before  one's  eyes," 
added  a  sonorous  young  voice,  as  Gillian  suddenly  stood 
up,  her  sinuous  and  suggestive  figure  displayed  in  a 
gown  of  creamy  mull  clinging  to  every  curve,  and  cov 
ering  yet  not  concealing  the  exquisite  roundness  of  arms 
and  shoulders  white  with  that  peculiar  mat  whiteness 
never  seen  save  in  persons  of  Latin  blood. 

"  Who  was  Helen  ? "  asked  Gillian  very  slowly, 
while  the  velvety  darkness  of  her  eyes  rested  with  infan 
tile  confidence  upon  the  handsome  face  of  William  Pa 
bodie,  who,  after  the  pause  of  an  instant,  said  signifi 
cantly,  — 

"  The  handsomest  woman  that  ever  lived." 

A  little  silence  ensued,  and  all  eyes  turned  upon  Gil 
lian,  who,  nothing  daunted,  softly  replied,  — 

"  She  must  have  been  well  pleased  when  Paris  told 
her  so." 

"  Welcome  home,  William  Pabodie  !  "  cried  Lucretia 
Brewster's  wholesome  voice,  scattering  as  with  a  puff  of 


GILLIAN.  271 

west  wind  the  strained  and  bewildering  atmosphere  that 
seemed  stifling  the  little  group  around  the  Spanish  girl. 
"  You  know  all  these  lads  and  lasses,  your  old  neigh 
bors,  and  I  see  that  you  have  already  made  acquaint 
ance  with  my  niece  Gillian,  —  Gillian  Brewster,  as  we 
call  her  "  — 

"  My  name  is  Gillian  de  Cavalcanti,"  interposed  Gil 
lian  quietly,  but  Lucretia,  flushing  angrily,  continued 
without  looking  at  her,  "  If  you  will  come  with  me,  Will, 
I  will  take  you  to  Mary  and  some  other  friends,  Lora 
Standish  and  her  guest,  Mercy  Bradford  from  Ply 
mouth." 

"  My  sister  Anice  well-nigh  raves  over  Mistress  Lora 
Standish,"  replied  the  young  man,  following  his  hostess, 
but  even  as  he  did  so  turning  to  look  once  more  at  Gil 
lian,  whose  eyes,  soft  and  dewy  as  a  chidden  child's, 
followed  him  with  a  vague  appeal  that  sent  a  tremor 
through  the  young  man's  heart. 

"Can  it  be  that  her  aunt  does  not  treat  her  well?" 
asked  he  of  himself,  and  his  next  reply  to  Lucretia  was 
so  cold  that  she  turned  and  looked  at  him,  and  then  re 
membering  said  to  herself,  — 

"  The  poison  works  quickly." 

The  apples  were  pared,  cored,  quartered,  or  sliced,  and, 
threaded  upon  twine,  hung  in  festoons  upon  a  frame 
erected  for  the  purpose  on  the  south  side  of  the  house  ; 
the  cores  and  skins  and  smaller  apples  were  heaped  into 
the  cider-press,  which  on  the  morrow  would  begin  its 
work  of  reducing  them  to  the  cheerful  and  wholesome 
beverage  as  essential  to  our  forefathers'  comfort  as  tea 
and  coffee  are  to  ours ;  the  bountiful  supper  had  been 
eaten  and  merrily  cleared  away  by  a  committee  of  bus 
tling  matrons,  and  at  last  the  great  houseplace,  the  shed, 


272  BETTY  ALDEN. 

and  a  platform  extending  for  some  distance  from  the 
house  were  "  sided  off  "  and  swept,  to  make  room  for  the 
frolics  which  to  the  young  people  were  the  true  mean 
ing  of  the  whole  affair.  "  Kissing  games  "  were  in  that 
day  not  more  objectionable  than  round  dances  are  now, 
and  perhaps  that  visitor  from  Jupiter  to  whom  we  some 
times  refer  for  impartial  judgment  would  have  found 
them  less  so.  Both  classes  of  amusement  depend  very 
much  upon  who  indulges  in  them,  and  when  Gillian's 
soft  warm  lips  frankly  pressed  William  Pabodie's  mouth 
a  quick  flush  mounted  to  the  young  man's  temples,  and 
he  cast  a  startled  glance  into  the  dark  eyes  upraised  to 
his  with  a  look  of  fathomless  meaning.  Lucretia  Brew- 
ster  saw  that  look,  and  her  own  matronly  cheek  colored 
angrily.  Later  in  the  evening  she  sat  herself  down 
beside  her  sister-in-law,  with  whom  she  was  on  very 
affectionate  terms. 

"  Tired,  'Cretia  ?  "  asked  Mistress  Love  Brewster  with 
a  pleasant  smile. 

"  No,  not  to  say  tired,  Sally,  but  a  good  deal  worked 
up." 

"About  what?" 

"  Well,  one  thing  and  another.  You  know  my  Mary  's 
to  be  married  Thanksgiving  Day,  and  John  Turner  joins 
hands  with  her  in  begging  me  to  go  to  Scituate  along 
with  them  and  set  her  off  in  her  housekeeping.  You 
know,  being  the  only  girl,  she  never  's  quite  let  go  of 
mammy's  apron  string ;  and  for  that  matter,  I  'm  as 
loath  to  part  with  her  as  ever  she  can  be  with  me." 

"  Then,  why  not  go  ?  "  asked  Sarah  sympathetically. 
"  I  'm  sure  the  change  will  be  good  for  you,  and  you  've 
had  a  mort  of  work  and  worry  lately." 

"  Yes,  I  know,   but  —  well,  I  '11  tell  you,   Sally.     I 


GILLIAN.  273 

don't  want  to  go  away  and  leave  Jonathan  and  the  boys 
with  nobody  to  do  for  them." 

"  Why,  there  's  Jill  and  your  Indian  woman  Quoy." 

"  Yes,  Quoy  knows  all  about  the  house,  and  can  get 
the  meals  and  all  that  as  well  if  I  was  away  as  if  I  was 
here  ;  but  Gillian  "  — 

"  Why  —  yes,  I  suppose  I  know  what  you  mean, 
'Cretia.  You  'd  be  just  as  well  content  if  Gillian  was  n't 
here,  eh?" 

"  Full  as  well,"  replied  Lucretia  with  emphasis,  and 
gazed  full  in  her  sister's  face.  Then  both  turned  and 
looked  at  the  girl  who,  crying,  "  Button,  button,  who  's 
got  the  button  ?  "  was  daintily  trying  to  pry  open  the 
stalwart  fist  of  Josias  Standish,  while  Mary  Dingley 
looked  uneasily  on. 

"Yes,"  said  Sarah  softly,  as  if  answering  some  un 
spoken  appeal.  "  And  you  don't  want  to  take  her  ?  " 

"  Take  her,  no  !  I  believe  Mary  would  n't  be  mar 
ried  at  all  if  it  was  to  carry  that  girl  along  with  her." 

"  Well,  'Cretia,  I  '11  take  her,  for  a  while  at  least. 
You  know  the  Elder  is  with  us  more  than  he  is  at  Ply 
mouth,  and  I  '11  lay  she  won't  carry  on  lightly  under  his 
eyes.  I  never  knew  any  man  like  Father  Brewster  in 
my  life  !  He  'd  make  the  Old  Boy  behave  himself,  I 
believe,  and  never  say  a  hard  word  to  him  neither ;  and 
my  boys  are  but  boys,  and  I  '11  risk  Love." 

"  Oh,  it  is  n't  Jonathan  I  'm  afraid  of,"  said  Jon 
athan's  wife  quickly.  "  But "  — 

"  Oh,  don't  you  say  a  word,"  interrupted  Sarah  with 
a  little  laugh.  "  I  know  all  about  it,  and  it 's  just  as  it 
should  be ;  but  it  would  be  main  lonesome  for  a  young 
maid  here  with  none  but  men  for  company,  and  I  '11  ask 
her  to  come  and  make  me  a  visit." 


274  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Will  you  ?  Now  that 's  comfortable  of  you,  Sally, 
right  comfortable  and  friendly,"  replied  Lucretia,  ris 
ing  to  attend  her  summons,  but  with  a  face  so  relieved 
from  care  and  worry  that  Jonathan,  meeting  her,  whis 
pered  softly,  — 

"  I  'd  liever  look  at  thee  than  any  of  the  young  lasses, 
sweetheart." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

DONNA  MARIA  DE  LOS  DOLORES. 

THE  weeks  and  the  months  gliding  along  with  their 
exasperating  illustration  of  the  festina  lente  principle 
brought  a  morning  of  early  spring,  chill  but  bright,  with 
a  merry  sun  contending  in  the  sky  against  some  unseen 
adversary  who  continually  pelted  him  with  great  white 
snowballs  of  cloud,  which  he  either  evaded  or  melted 
with  the  fervor  of  his  breath.  In  the  farmhouse  built 
by  the  Elder  for  himself  and  Love,  but  not  passing  into 
the  possession  of  Love  and  Love's  wife,  a  great  fire  of 
cedar  logs  burned  fragrantly  upon  the  hearth  of  the  sit 
ting-room,  and  flashed  its  light  upon  the  silver  tankard 
and  cup  burnished  to  their  utmost  brightness,  and  mod 
estly  boasting  themselves  upon  the  little  mahogany  elbow- 
table  in  the  nook  beside  the  fire,  conveniently  at  hand 
to  the  leathern  easy-chair,  so  inharmonious  with  our 
ideas  of  ease,  which  with  a  footstool  in  front  was  the 
Elder's  seat  of  an  evening,  or  in  the  brief  repose  he  in 
these  latter  days  allowed  himself  after  dinner,  or  when 
in  the  short  and  stormy  winter  days  he  could  do  nothing 
but  sit  beside  the  fire  and  delight  his  soul  with  study. 

In  this  blithe  March  morning,  however,  the  old  man 
was  out  with  his  son  and  the  oxen  breaking  up  fallow 
ground,  and  chanting  half  aloud  brave  verses  of  Holy 
Writ  as  he  guided  the  team  while  Love's  mighty  arms 
held  down  the  ploughshare. 


276  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  *  O  let  the  earth  bless  the  Lord  ;  yea,  let  it  praise 
Him,  and  magnify.  Him  forever  ! 

"  '  O  all  ye  green  things  upon  the  earth,  bless  ye  the 
Lord  ;  praise  Him,  and  magnify  Him  forever  ! 

"  '  O  ye  seas  and  floods,  bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise 
Him,  and  magnify  Him  forever ! 

" '  O  ye  children  of  men,  bless  ye  the  Lord ;  praise 
Him,  and  magnify  Him  forever  ! 

"  '  O  let  Israel  bless  the  Lord  ;  praise  Him,  and  mag 
nify  Him  forever  ! ' ' 

"  Wow  !  but  this  new  colter  is  heavy ;  let  us  rest  a 
minute,  father,"  cried  Love,  feigning  to  pant  and  wipe 
his  brow,  but  really  appalled  at  the  look  of  his  father's 
face,  and  fearing  to  see  him  rapt  out  of  his  sight  as  was 
Elijah  from  that  of  Elisha. 

"  Rest  ?  Ay,  ay,  I  should  have  sooner  remembered 
you,  my  boy.  Yes,  yes,  rest  if  you  need  it,  lad,  rest  and 
don't  strain  your  young  muscles  till  they  're  seasoned 
like  mine." 

But  reverent  son  though  he  was,  Love,  as  he  turned 
to  lift  the  yoke  and  pat  his  oxen  a  bit,  did  not  deny 
himself  a  slow  smile  of  sober  amusement. 

In  the  sunny  sitting-room,  Gillian,  with  the  firelight 
in  her  ruddy  hair,  moved  around,  dusting  and  arran 
ging  the  place,  and  especially  ordering  the  chair  and 
footstool  dedicated  to  her  best  friend.  But  why,  when 
she  had  wiped  away  the  last  grain  of  dust,  and  placed 
the  stool  at  just  the  best  angle,  and  even  drawn  the 
wolfskin  mat  a  trifle  out  of  the  centre  that  it  might 
reach  the  front  legs  of  the  chair,  why  did  she  all  at  once 
cross  her  arms  upon  the  high  back,  and,  bowing  her  head 
upon  them,  sob  as  though  her  heart  would  break,  and 
suffer  a  few  great  tears  like  the  first  drops  of  a  tropic 


DONNA  MARIA  DE  LOS  DOLORES.         277 

thunder  -  shower  to  roll  down  the  leathern  back  and 
under  the  comfortless  cushion  ?  Lora  Standish,  coming 
noiselessly  through  the  door  from  the  kitchen,  stood  a 
moment  wondering  in  the  doorway,  then  half  timidly 
exclaimed,  — 

"  Why,  Gillian,  what 's  the  matter  ?" 

"  Oh !  It 's  you,  is  it,  or  is  't  a  ghost  that  it  looks 
like  ?  Let 's  try  it !  "  And  with  a  sudden  gliding  mo 
tion,  too  much  like  that  of  a  snake  for  beauty,  Gillian 
seized  her  visitor  by  the  arm,  inflicting  such  a  nip  with 
her  cruel  slender  fingers  as  left  its  mark  for  many  a 
day.  The  blood  flew  for  a  moment  to  Lora's  cheek, 
but  it  was  the  blood  of  warriors,  and  she  only  said  as 
she  drew  back  a  step,  — 

"  I  am  looking  for  Mistress  Brewster.  Do  you  know 
where  she  is  ?  " 

"  Yes,  gone  over  to  John  Alden's  to  help  Priscilla  in 
some  mystery  of  housecraft ;  but  come  you  in  and  sit 
down  for  a  minute  or  so,  or  I  '11  think,  you  proud  peat, 
that  you  mean  to  slight  me." 

"  Why  should  I  want  to  slight  you,  Gillian  ?  "  replied 
Lora  with  the  angelic  smile  that  distinguished  her,  as, 
throwing  aside  the  little  white  scarf  around  her  head 
and  shoulders,  she  came  forward  to  the  fire,  and  leaning 
against  the  high  mantelpiece  put  a  foot  upon  the  fen 
der,  looking  frankly  the  while  into  the  sombre  face  of 
the  other  girl. 

"  Oh,  well,  —  oh,  well !  "  muttered  Gillian  after  a 
moment.  "  'T  is  well  you  're  angel-like,  since  so  soon 
you  '11  see  them." 

"  What  say  you,  Gillian  ?  'T  is  well  I  'm  what,  said 
you  ?  " 

"  Nay,  sit  you  down,  maiden,  —  sit  you  here  in  the 


278  BETTY  ALDEN. 

Elder's  chair  and  put  your  feet  to  the  fire,  upon  his 
footstool.  There,  now,  be  biddable  and  meek,  as  fits 
your  face." 

"  Why,  Jill,  't  was  but  yesterday  that  you  almost 
smote  Betty  Alden  to  the  ground  because  she  would 
have  sat  in  that  chair ;  and  after  all,  't  is  not  half  so 
comfortable  as  mother's  splint  chair." 

"  Oh,  ay,"  replied  Gillian,  as  she  turned  toward  the 
bookcase  and  began  brushing  the  books  with  a  wild 
turkey's  wing,  "  that 's  different,  —  that 's  different. 
I  would  n't  have  let  you  sit  there  but  for  what  I  saw  a 
minute  gone  by." 

"  What  you  saw !  "  echoed  Lora,  not  overmuch 
moved,  for  Gillian's  vagaries  had  long  since  been  voted 
insoluble  by  the  simple  folk  of  The  Nook.  "  And  what 
was 't  you  saw  ?  " 

"  Now,  now  !     Can  you  read,  Lora  ?  " 

"  Yes.  Father  taught  me  when  I  was  but  a  little  trot. 
I  learned  as  fast  as  the  boys,  he  said." 

"  Well,  a  priest  taught  me  just  as  a  man  of  the  outside 
world  would  have  taught  a  parrot  or  an  ape.  All  the 
people  who  have  done  me  any  good  have  done  it  for 
their  pleasure  or  their  pride,  and  I  'm  naught  beholden 
to  them.  But  these  books  !  —  I  often  spell  out  their 
titles  when  I  'm  dull,  and  tired  of  laughing  at  men 
and  women.  Now  hark  you,  Lora,  here 's  some  of  'em  : 

A  Toyle  for  2  legged  Foxes. 

A  Cordiall  for  Comfort. 

Burton  wearing  His  Spur. 

Memorable  Conceits. 

Jacob's  Ladder. 

The  Review  of  Rome. 

Troubles  of  ye  Church  of  Amsterdam. 


DONNA  MARIA  DE  LOS  DOLORES.         279 

A  Garland  of  Vertuous  Dames. 

Romances  of  Brittannia. 

"  There,  heard  you  ever  the  like  ?  It  ever  seems  to 
me  as  if  these  writer  folk  hetcheled  their  brains  to  find 
some  title  for  their  books  that  will  prick  curiosity  to  the 
quick  and  force  a  man  to  buy,  that  he  may  certify  him 
self  what  'A  Toyle  for  2  Legged  Foxes'  may  truly 
mean.  Is  't  not  so  ?  " 

"  Haply.  I  '11  get  father  to  beg  the  Elder  to  lend  him 
that  '  Romance  of  Brittannia,'  for  it  sounds  right  relish 
ing  in  mine  ears." 

"  And  you  love  to  read  ?  " 

«  Dearly  well." 

"Then  you  should  have  been  a  nun.  They  made 
much  of  me  at  Los  Dolores,  because  I  could,  when  I 
would,  read  the  '  Life  of  Teresa  de  Jesus '  to  them." 

"  And  when  you  would  not,  could  you  not  ? "  asked 
Lora  mischievously. 

"  Indeed  I  could  n't.  I  miscalled  the  words,  I  gab 
bled,  I  lost  my  place,  I  dropped  the  book,  I  doubled  the 
corners  and  broke  the  parchment,  —  oh,  they  were  glad 
enough  to  let  me  off,  the  poor  nuns,  the  poor  nuns  !  " 

"And  did  you  like  the  convent,  Gillian?"  asked 
Lora,  so  wistfully  that  the  other  paused  a  moment  as  if 
struck  with  a  new  idea  ;  then  throwing  down  her  turkey's 
wing  she  crouched  upon  the  wolfskin,  and  nursing  a 
knee  between  her  clasped  hands  looked  up  into  the 
pale  face  clearly  defined  against  the  dark  leather  of  the 
chair-back,  as  she  slowly  said,  — 

"  Why,  what  a  nun  you  'd  make,  Lora  Standish ! 
Passing  strange  I  never  thought  of  it  before." 

"  Methinks  't  would  be  a  happy  life,"  replied  Lora, 
stifling  a  sigh. 


280  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Happy !  Well,  for  you  it  may  be.  Your  father  is 
of  the  old  religion,  is  he  not  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know,  for  he  says  naught  and  will  hear 
naught  about  it.  You  know  he  will  not  join  the  church 
here,  although  mother  belongs  to  it,  and  when  we  all 
were  christened  he  said  lay  baptism  was  better  than 
none ;  but  he  goes  to  meeting  as  we  all  do,  and  gives  as 
much  as  any  man  to  the  support  of  the  minister.  He 
knows  best,  doubtless,  and  mother  and  I  do  not  much 
care  to  know  all  his  mind." 

"  Oh,  ay  ! "  replied  Gillian,  who  had  listened  atten 
tively,  and  now  shook  her  head  as  if  discarding  some 
plan.  Then  lowering  her  gaze  from  Lora's  face  to  the 
fire,  now  crumbling  into  caverns,  and  vistas,  and  top 
pling  turrets,  and  fantastic  feathery  piles  of  ashes,  she 
slowly  said,  — 

"  'T  is  out  of  possibility,  but  I  would  well  have  liked 
to  see  you  a  sister  of  Donna  Maria  de  los  Dolores.  It 
would  have  been  a  heaven  on  earth  to  you,  and  the 
guimpe  and  coif  and  barb  ought  to  suit  you  as  jewels  do 
me. 

"  Oh  't  was  so  fair  there  betimes !  "  continued  she 
with  sudden  passion.  "  I  mind  me  of  one  even  just 
before  my  father  fetched  me  away  to  see  my  mother 
die,  one  even  in  deep  midsummer,  and  after  vespers 
we  walked  in  the  garden,  the  sisters  and  another  girl 
and  I.  Such  a  garden,  Lora,  oh,  such  a  garden  as  you 
never  dreamed  of  in  these  hateful  northern  solitudes  ! 
Closed  all  round  with  a  high  gray  stone  wall  covered 
with  passion  flowers  and  jessamine  and  gay  trumpet 
flowers,  a  bank  of  bloom  and  greenery  that  seemed  to 
us  the  end  of  the  world,  for  the  banana-trees  no  more 
than  reached  the  top  of  it,  and  inside,  smooth  green 


DONNA  MARIA  DE  LOS  DOLORES.         281 

walks  bordered  with  every  flower  that  grows,  and  more 
especially  all  that  are  sweet  and  bewildering  of  per 
fume  ;  for,  Lora,  when  a  woman  puts  on  a  nun's  robes 
she  does  not  cease  to  be  a  woman,  and  while  with  the 
one  hand  she  flings  her  flask  of  essences  and  her  po 
mander  box  into  the  fire,  with  the  other  she  plants  a  bed 
of  pinks,  to  flaunt  their  color  and  send  up  their  spicy 
odors  for  her  delight." 

"  Who  cared  for  the  garden  at  Los  Dolores  ?  "  asked 
Lora,  vaguely  uneasy  at  the  other's  tone. 

"  Oh,  the  sisters  one  and  another.  'T  was  rare  recrea 
tion  for  them,  and  never  permitted  to  those  in  peni 
tence.  They  even  mowed  the  lawns,  and  shaved  the 
paths,  and  rolled  the  gravel,  for  it  was  a  great  and  wide 
garden,  with  room  in  it  for  one  to  get  away  alone  and 
entertain  the  blue  devils  in  solitude." 

"  Nay,  Gillian,  but  could  devils,  blue  or  black,  ever 
overpass  that  high  wall  you  told  of  ?  " 

"  Could  they  ?  Oh,  well  —  at  least  they  never  would 
have  found  you  when  they  searched  for  prey,  so  much  I 
believe,  maid  Lora." 

"  But  tell  me  more  of  the  garden." 

"  Well,  as  I  say,  't  was  wide  and  fair  and  perfectly 
ordered,  and  there  was  a  fountain  where  a  poor  ball  still 
was  tossed  up  and  down,  up  and  down  upon  the  current, 
till  I  used  by  times  to  snatch  it  off  in  very  pity  and  toss 
it  into  a  posy-bed  to  rest  awhile,  but  Sister  Marina 
always  found  it  and  put  it  back.  Then  there  were  bos 
quets,  where  the  sun  never  came ;  and  there  were 
bordered  walks,  and  benches  under  some  great  cork-trees 
at  the  foot  of  the  garden ;  and  there  were,  in  their  time, 
Annunciation  lilies  as  fair  and  sweet  as  that  Senor  Don 
Gabriel  laid  at  the  feet  of  Madonna  Mary,  and  roses 


282  BETTY  ALDEN. 

like  those  among  which  she  laid  her  little  Jesu  to  sleep ; 
and  there  were  incense  trees  where  the  berries  and  gums 
and  bark  grew  that  the  sisters  gathered  so  solemnly, 
and  dried  and  brayed  in  a  special  mortar,  and  that 
smelt  so  sweet  when  the  sister  thurifer  swung  her  censer 
up  and  down,  and  this  way  and  that,  to  keep  it  alight 
till  the  priest  who  said  mass  on  the  great  days  was  ready 
to  take  it  from  her. 

"  And  there  were  goldfish  in  the  fountain  and  birds  in 
the  trees,  —  oh,  such  glorious  birds,  and  some  of  them  so 
sweet  of  song !  and  there  was  a  pond  where  the  nuns 
fattened  great  fishes  for  Friday  dinners,  and  feasted 
better  on  them  than  on  the  flesh  of  other  days. 

"  But  I  was  going  to  tell  you  of  a  time,  one  of  the  last 
times  I  ever  walked  in  that  garden  or  slept  in  my  little 
whitewashed  cell  at  Dolores.  Ah,  now,  mayhap  I  had 
been  a  better  girl  had  they  left  me  there.  "Well,  we 
walked  up  and  down  the  wide  grassy  middle  alley,  the 
sisters,  and  Inez  de  Soza  and  I,  and  all  of  us  were 
merry,  for  the  Mother  Superior  was  in  a  good  temper 
and  the  prioress  had  got  on  her  talking-cap,  and  we 
girls  and  the  novices  asked  no  better  than  to  laugh  at 
all  our  elders'  jests  and  cry  Oh,  marvelous  !  to  all  their 
stories,  when  all  at  once  the  sister  portress  came  down 
the  old  mossy  steps  from  the  house,  and  kneeling  to  the 
Superior,  who  bade  her  rise,  for  it  was  recreation  time 
and  all  rules  were  relaxed,  she  told  her  that  a  Domini 
can  friar  was  at  the  gate  with  a  comrade  and  asked 
lodging  in  the  priest's  chamber  outside  the  wall. 

"  *  But  surely  !  When  did  we  refuse  hospitality  to  a 
holy  man,  Sister  Juana  ?  '  replied  the  mother.  ;  Have 
him  in  with  his  comrade  and  give  him  supper  in  the 
sacristy  ;  when  he  has  refreshed  himself  I  will  see  him 
there.' 


DONNA  MARIA  DE  LOS  DOLORES.          283 

"  '  But  he  also  begs  permission  to  preach  to  the  sisters/ 
persisted  old  Juana,  who  was  as  obstinate  as  a  mule  ; 
and  as  the  Mother  paused  upon  her  reply,  Inez  and  I 
who  held  her  hands  cried,  — 

"  *  Oh,  do,  reverend  Mother,  oh,  do  let  us  hear  a  ser 
mon  !  '  and  she  laughing  said  :  — 

"  *  Well,  yes,  perhaps  't  will  turn  your  hearts  from 
the  world  to  religion  as  I  have  not  been  able  to  do.' 

"So  we  walked  another  turn  or  so  and  then  went  into 
the  chapel,  which  was  full  of  that  soft  purple  shadow 
that  fills  such  places  as  the  night  falls  without.  The 
wide  door  to  the  garden  stood  open,  and  I  placed  myself 
at  the  end  of  the  bench  so  that  I  could  well  look  out 
and  see  and  smell  and  listen  to  the  world  while  the 
friar  should  talk  of  religion. 

"  Oh,  maiden,  't  was  as  strange  an  hour  and  as  sweet 
as  ever  I  knew  or  shall  know  !  Outside  was  that  fair 
garden,  with  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  touching  the  crests 
of  the  trees,  the  palms  and  cork-trees  and  acacias,  and 
the  fountain  vainly  leaping  up  to  reach  the  sunlight, 
and  the  birds  at  their  vespers,  and  the  blinding  sweets 
of  the  posy-beds,  and  just  outside  the  door  a  great 
banana-tree  that  swayed  and  rustled  in  the  breeze,  and 
threw  its  long  green  leaves  like  wooing  arms  in  at  the 
door  as  if  to  drag  me  out,  wooed  me  so  strangely  that  if 
I  looked  and  listened  too  long  I  must  have  yielded  and 
leaped  out  to  its  embrace.  And  inside  there  was  the 
dusky  chapel  with  the  pictures  of  the  saints  glimmering 
from  the  walls,  and  the  white  Christ  upon  his  cross  with 
his  eyes  downbent  to  mine,  and  such  a  passion  of  plead 
ing  in  them  as  seemed  to  drag  the  heart  from  my  breast, 
and  the  sisters  in  their  white  robes  and  rosaries,  tinkling 
beads,  and  the  blue  cross  sewed  upon  the  breast  of  each 


284  BETTY  ALDEN. 

fading  into  the  white,  and  their  pure  profiles  downcast 
as  they  listened  ;  and  there  above  us  all  in  the  dim  ob 
scurity  of  the  place  the  pulpit,  of  some  black  wood,  and 
rising  out  of  it  that  gaunt  gray  figure  of  the  friar,  his 
face  pale  and  worn,  his  eyes  ablaze  with  the  fervor  of 
his  thought,  his  emaciated  hands  upraised,  and  his  air 
now  that  of  an  angel  of  mercy,  now  a  minister  of  ven 
geance  and  wrath. 

"  Oh,  how  he  preached,  that  man !  How  his  words 
poured  out  like  a  river  in  spring  and  carried  all  before 
them  like  that  river  in  a  freshet !  Long  ere  he  was 
done  I  was  on  my  knees  crying  my  heart  out,  and  bow 
ing  myself  to  God  in  a  life  of  sanctity  and  religion,  — 
had  he  given  me  the  chance,  I  would  have  dedicated 
myself  as  a  novice  that  very  night ;  and  before  he  was 
done  I  had  whispered  to  Inez,  — 

"  '  Take  your  vows  with  me  to-morrow,'  but  she  re 
plied,  — 

"  '  Yon  comrade  of  the  friar  is  no  monk  ! '  And  look 
ing  where  she  looked  I  saw  close  by  the  door  where  the 
Dominican  had  placed  him  a  man  in  a  friar's  robe  and 
cowl  to  be  sure,  but  with  bold  black  eyes  that  gazed 
like  those  of  a  caged  bird  at  all  around,  resting  most 
often  upon  Inez  and  me,  who  were  the  only  ones  who 
wore  not  the  sisters'  livery,  but  our  own  white  school 
frocks  and  little  caps.  Somehow  the  sight  of  that  face 
and  the  regard  of  those  bold  eyes  scattered  all  my  holy 
mood  as  the  sun  scorches  up  the  dew  and  —  But  there, 
there,  I  '11  say  naught  to  shock  you,  pale  saint.  'T  was 
a  fair  picture,  though,  was  't  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  passing  fair,"  replied  Lora  dreamily,  "  and  I 
were  well  content  to  spend  my  life  in  such  a  blessed 
retreat." 


DONNA  MAEIA  DE  LOS  DOLORES.         285 

"  Your  life,  maiden  !    Nay,  you  have  faith  in  God  ?  " 

"  Why  surely,  Gillian  !    Who  has  not  ?  "    And  Lora's 

clear  gray  eyes  rested  in  a  sort   of    alarm  upon   the 

sombre  face  of  the  girl  at  her  feet,  who  only  shook  her 

head,  murmuring,  — 

"  And  God  will  care  for  his  own." 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

A    SALT-FISH    DINNER. 

"  NAY,  Betty,  flout  me  not !  'T  is  an  honest  word  I  Ve 
said  to  you,  and  1  look  to  have  it  answered  honestly." 

"  I  know  not  what  you  call  honest,  Master  Alexander 
Standish  "  — 

"  There,  now  !  You  can't  even  speak  without  a  gibe 
at  my  high-sounding  name.  I  count  it  right  down 
unkind,  Betty  "  — 

"  Then  if  I  don't  please  you,  there  's  the  road  home. 
Is  n't  your  name  Alexander  in  very  sooth,  or  is  that  a 
by-name  your  mother  calls  you  for  short  ?  " 

"  It  seems  to  me,  Mistress  Alden,  that  your  humor  is 
a  little  shrewish." 

"  There,  that  will  do  !  Never  speak  to  me  again  so 
long  as  you  Ve  breath  to  speak  at  all." 

"  Nay,  Betty,  I  crave  your  pardon.  'T  was  rude  of 
me,  but  you  put  me  past  my  patience." 

"  Which  is  such  a  straitened  foothold  the  least  jostle 
will  drive  you  from  it." 

"  Betty,  I  love  you.     Will  you  be  my  wife  ?  " 

"  Trust  a  modest  man  for  impudence,  when  once  he 
makes  a  start." 

"  Betty,  I  pray  you  lay  aside  this  mood,  and  answer 
me  seriously.  'T  is  my  just  due,  maiden,  and  John 
Alden's  daughter  should  be  honest." 

"  Well,  then,  Alick,  in  all  sadness  I  will  answer  you 
—  no." 


A  SALT-FISH  DINNER.  287 

"  Do  you  mean  it,  Betty  ?  " 

"  As  I  mean  to  be  saved." 

"  And  will  you  so  far  humor  your  oldest  friend  as  to 
tell  him  why  ?  " 

"  You  do  not  love  me  as  the  man  I  wed  must  love, 
nor  do  I  love  you  save  as  a  dear  friend  of  childhood, 
and  as  such  I  shall  ever  love  you.  As  such  and  no 
more." 

"  I  do  not  love  you,  say  you,  lass  ?  " 

"  No.  You  fain  would  marry  some  one  out  of  hand, 
because  Gillian  has  fooled  you,  and  you  're  longing  to 
show  her  that  you  care  as  little  as  she." 

"  What  —  who  —  did  she  say  such  a  thing,  Betty  ?  " 

"  Nay.  Oh,  Alick,  I  must  laugh,  —  you  look  so  red 
and  so  befogged !  —  like  the  sun  rising  on  a  misty  morn- 
ing." 

"  Who  told  you  —  what  puts  it  in  your  head  that  I 
care  for  Gillian  ?  " 

"  I  said  not  you  cared  for  her  ;  I  said  she  'd  fooled 
you  ;  and  't  was  mine  own  eyes  and  mother  wit  told  me, 
and  no  one  else.  She  's  played  with  you  as  my  Tabby 
does  with  a  mouse,  only  at  the  last  she  let  you  slip  from 
under  her  claws,  not  quite  killed,  and  you  ran  to  your 
old  gossip  to  have  the  wound  salved ;  that  's  all !  " 

"  And  do  you  believe  it  was  all  put  on  ?  Do  you 
truly  think  she  cared  nothing  at  all  for  me  ?  " 

"  No  more  than  she  did  for  your  brother  Josias,  or 
my  brothers  David  and  Joseph,  or  Constant  Southworth, 
or,  or  —  the  rest  "  — 

"  The  rest !  Oh,  you  mean  Will  Pabodie,  don't  you  ? 
You  've  noted  how  of  late  she  's  all  eyes  and  ears  for 
him." 

"  Nay,  I  've  noted  naught."     The  words  were  few 


288  BETTY  ALDEN. 

and  the  voice  was  cold,  but  something  in  the  tone  made 
Alick  Standish  look  keenly  into  the  face  of  his  old 
friend.  It  was  scarlet,  and  the  brave  brown  eyes  were 
full  of  tears  ;  but  as  Betty  caught  his  look  she  returned 
it  with  one  of  right  royal  defiance. 

"  Poor  David !  "  said  she,  steadying  her  voice  with  a 
mighty  effort,  "  he  has  not  got  over  Tabby's  love-pats 
yet.  He  's  worse  off  than  you,  Alick.  But  here  we  are 
at  home.  Come  in  and  have  a  mug  of  cider  or  a  noggin 
of  milk  after  your  walk,  won't  you,  lad  ?  " 

"  I  '11  have  the  milk  and  thank  you  kindly.  Is  n't 
that  Sally  peeping  out  of  the  dairy  window  ?  " 

"  Yes,  she  's  dairy-maid  this  week,  and  will  give  you 
the  milk.  You  '11  catch  her  in  her  short  gown  and 
petticoat." 

"  Won't  she  be  vexed  ?  "  asked  the  young  man,  with 
a  smile  anything  but  heart-broken. 

"  She  '11  not  eat  you  if  she  is.  Open  the  door  of  a 
sudden  and  catch  her  at  work,"  whispered  Betty  ;  and 
Alick,  the  smile  broadening  into  mischief,  sharply 
pushed  back  the  cleated  door,  revealing  the  figure  of  a 
tall  girl,  who,  with  arms  bare  to  the  shoulders,  was  at 
that  moment  tossing  a  great  mass  of  yellow  butter 
high  into  the  air,  her  lithe  form  well  displayed  as  she 
leaned  back  and  held  up  her  hands  to  catch  her  pon 
derous  plaything.  A  linen  cloth  pinned  around  the 
forehead  just  above  the  brows  formed  a  piquant  frame 
for  the  rosy,  dimpling  Greuze  face,  with  its  sweet  blue 
eyes  and  pure  but  tender  lips ;  a  lovely  innocent  maiden, 
and  as  Alick  Standish  looked  at  her  as  if  for  the  first 
time,  while  she,  suffering  the  butterball  to  drop  upon 
the  stone  slab  in  front  of  her,  would  fain  have  pulled 
her  kirtle  straight,  but  dared  not  touch  it  with  her 


A  SALT-FISH  DINNEE.  289 

moist  hands,  and  half  cried  in  her  pretty  confusion,  he 
knew  as  by  a  revelation  that  all  his  other  fancies  had 
been  but  dreams  and  follies,  and  here  before  him  stood 
the  woman,  whom  out  of  all  the  world  he  would  choose 
to  be  his  wife,  —  the  woman  whom  he  could  love,  and 
love  to  the  end. 

But  while  the  man's  heart  leaped  up  within  him, 
like  his  who,  searching  for  mica,  suddenly  comes  upon 
diamonds,  all  that  rose  to  the  lips  was  a  little  laugh, 
and  the  prosaic  petition,  — 

"  Might  I  have  a  noggin  of  milk  ?  " 

**  Surely.  Betty  shall  give  it  you  —  Nay,  she 's 
gone.  Well,  wait  but  till  I  wash  my  hands  and  put  my 
butter  down  in  the  cellar  hole.  Mayhap  you  '11  lift  up 
the  trap  for  me." 

"  Of  course  I  will !     Where  is  it  ?  " 

"Just  here."  And  tapping  with  one  foot,  Sally 
Alden  showed  an  iron  ring  set  into  the  floor,  and  evi 
dently  intended  to  raise  a  big  trap  door  in  the  middle 
of  the  dairy.  Throwing  it  back  so  that  it  rested  upon 
the  floor,  Alick  looked  down  the  steep  steps  into  the 
little  deep  and  cool  cellar,  which  in  those  days  imper 
fectly  forestalled  the  refrigerator  of  to-day. 

"  Let  me  carry  down  the  butter  for  you,  Sally,"  said 
he.  "  'T  is  too  steep." 

"  'T  is  no  steeper  than  it  was  last  week,  or  will  be 
next,"  laughed  Sally  in  a  sweet  tremor  of  bashful  joy ; 
for  Alick  was  her  hero,  and  hitherto  had  only  treated 
her  as  one  of  the  children.  "  But  if  you  like,  you  may 
hand  me  the  dish  after  I  am  down." 

"  Yes,  indeed.  It  looks  like  the  head  of  John  Baptist 
on  a  charger,  as  't  is  seen  in  the  Elder's  big  Bible." 

"  And  so  it  does,"  replied  the  girl,  glancing  with  a 


290  BETTY  ALDEN. 

new  interest  at  the  great  ball  of  butter  in  the  middle  of 
the  pewter  platter,  which  Alexander  held  aloft  in  mim 
icry  of  the  picture  both  had  seen  as  children. 

Then  presently,  the  butter  deposited,  the  trap  door 
closed,  and  the  noggin  of  milk  presented  and  quaffed, 
the  two  came  through  the  long  passage  dividing  the 
dairy  from  the  kitchen,  and  were  met  by  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  our  Priscilla,  a  little  older,  but  still  as 
charming  as  when  we  first  knew  her,  and  showing  among 
her  daughters  like  the  rose  among  its  buds,  the  glorious 
fulfillment  of  a  gracious  promise. 

"  Good-morrow  to  you,  Alick.  Go  into  the  sitting- 
room,  you  and  Betty,  —  or  no  ;  Sally,  you  Ve  been  busy 
while  Betty  was  on  her  travels,  you  go  and  make  Alick 
miserable  till  dinner 's  dished  "  — 

"  Nay,  dame,  I  'm  beholden  to  you,  but  I  must  go  "  — 

"  Surely  you  must  go,  but  not  without  your  dinner, 
my  lad.  'T  is  Saturday  and  salt-fish  dinner,  you  know, 
and  I  '11  warrant  me  your  mother's  '11  be  no  better  than 
I  shall  give  you." 

"  My  mother  'd  be  the  first  to  say  she  's  no  match 
for  Mistress  Alden  in  delicate  cookery." 

"  There,  there,  go  say  your  pretty  things  to  the  girls, 
Sally  or  Betty,  it  matters  not  which,  but  don't  whet  your 
wit  on  an  old  woman  like  me.  Be  off  with  you  !  " 

Laughing  and  well  pleased  that  fortune  so  favored  his 
half-formed  wishes,  Alick  followed  Sally  through  the 
sitting-room  to  the  front  door,  standing  wide  open  to  the 
summer;  and  then,  sitting  on  the  threshold,  their  feet 
upon  the  great  natural  doorstone  which  their  children's 
and  their  children's  children's  feet  should  press,  the  man 
and  the  maid  entered  into  that  fairyland  we  all  pass 
through  once  in  our  lives. 


A  SALT-FISH  DINNER.  291 

"And  some  give  thanks,  and  some  blaspheme, 
And  most  forget,  but  either  way, 
That  and  the  child's  forgotten  dream 
Are  all  the  light  of  all  our  day." 

"Alick!  Sally!  Come  to  dinner!"  cried  Betty's 
blithe  voice ;  but  as  the  young  man  arose  and  turned  his 
glowing  face  toward  her,  she  stared  at  it  for  a  moment 
in  astonishment,  and  then  turned  sharply  away  to  hide 
the  smile  that  would  in  her  own  despite  curl  her  lips. 

"  They  're  stronger  than  we  women  in  some  ways,  but 
they  're  wondrously  weak  in  others,"  was  the  thought 
beneath  that  smile. 

In  the  great  airy  kitchen,  where  no  fire  was  made  in 
the  warm  weather,  a  table  was  spread  large  enough  to 
accommodate,  besides  the  heads  of  the  family,  their  eight 
children,  and  the  two  men  and  a  woman  who  lived  in 
the  house  really  as  "  help,"  and  not  servants. 

A  fourteenth  seat  was  now  placed  for  the  guest  be 
tween  Betty  and  her  brother  Joseph,  still  his  mother's 
true  lover  and  helper,  but  Alick  noted  with  pleasure  that 
Sally  sat  opposite,  and  gave  him  the  opportunity  to 
study  her  face,  which  he  seemed  never  to  have  seen  be 
fore. 

The  long  grace  ended,  and  the  clatter  of  chairs  and 
feet  upon  the  bare  floor  a  little  subsided,  John  Alden, 
viewing  with  satisfaction  the  great  codfish  lying  at  full 
length  upon  the  platter  yet  longer  than  itself,  said,  — 

"  George  Soule  has  had  more  than  ordinary  luck  with 
his  dunfish  this  season  ;  don't  they  say  so  at  your  house, 
Alick  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  a  small  share,  if  you  please." 

Alden  stared,  and  his  wife  interposed  :  — 

"  He  says  he  '11  have  some,  father.     Did  you  know 


292  BETTY  ALDEN. 

that  George  Soule  had  set  up  as  dry-salter  for  the  town, 
Alick  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  heard  so.  Indeed,  father  bought  a  quintal 
of  dun  and  another  of  white  fish  of  him,"  replied  Alick, 
wondering  what  Betty  and  Sally  were  laughing  about. 

"  Now  I  don't  see  why  the  captain  portioned  them 
that  fashion,"  mused  John  Alden,  rapidly  distributing 
the  fish  into  fourteen  empty  trenchers.  "  For  doubtless 
he  knows  as  well  as  I,  or  rather  your  mother  knows  as 
well  as  our  housewife  here,  that  the  only  way  to  cook 
your  fish  aright  is  to  bind  a  good  dunfish  carefully  be 
tween  two  wjiitefish,  and  steep  the  three  all  night  in 
lukewarm  water  ;  then  in  the  morning  to  cast  out  that 
water  and  put  in  fresh,  and  again  steep  it  so  nigh  the 
fire  that  it  ever  tries  to  boil  yet  never  makes  out. 
Finally,  when  all  else  is  ready,  master  dunfish  is  re 
leased  from  his  bondage,  and  carefully  laid  upon  a  plat 
ter  unbroken,  while  his  bedfellows  the  whitefish  are 
thrown  to  the  ducks  or  the  pigs  "  — 

"  Or  made  into  a  mince  wherein  no  man  can  tell  the 
white  from  the  dun  fish,"  interposed  Priscilla.  "  Why, 
father,  I  should  suppose  you  'd  been  ship's  cook  all  your 
youth,  and  major-domo  ever  since.  I  never  mistrusted 
you  knew  how  a  salt  codfish  should  be  cooked." 

"  I  see  a  mort  of  things  I  don't  talk  about,"  retorted 
Alden  quietly,  "  and  if  you  knew  not  more  than  most 
women,  I  could  tell  you  just  how  master  tomcod  should 
be  served." 

"  Try  it,  father ! "  cried  Betty,  who  was  her  father's 
darling  and  might  say  what  she  liked,  because  she  never 
liked  to  say  anything  amiss.  "Tell  us  now  without 
looking  around  the  board,  tell  us  what  should  lie  on  it 
to  be  eaten  with  salt  codfish." 


A  SALT  FISH  DINNER.  293 

"  Well,  there  must  be  a  white  sauce,  compounded  of 
cream  and  wheaten  flour  and  butter  ;  and  there  must  be 
pork-scraps  cut  in  dice  and  fried  of  a  dainty  brown  ; 
and  there  must  be  beets  boiled  tender,  but  not  cut  to  let 
out  the  color ;  and  there  must  be  parsnips  and  turnips 
and  onions ;  and  there  must  be  brown  bread  and  white 
bread  ;  and  there  must  be  sallet  oil  and  mustard ;  and 
above  all,  there  must  be  a  good  flagon  of  cider,  and 
another  to  back  it." 

"  Right,  right !  Here  's  every  one  of  the  things  you 
told  about  and  more,  for  here  's  a  dish  of  those  roots 
John  Rowland  got  in  Boston  of  the  sloop  trading  to  the 
Carolinas.  Molly  begged  so  hard  for  them  that  mother 
cooked  some,  but  I  doubt  if  they  will  suit  with  salt 
fish." 

"  Father  told  of  eating  some  in  Boston,  but  we  've 
had  none  as  yet,"  said  Alick,  and  Sally,  taking  up  one 
of  the  sweet  potatoes,  broke  it  in  two  and  handed  a  piece 
across  the  table  to  Alick,  who,  eating  it  skin  and  all,  as 
if  it  were  a  fruit,  declared  it  with  sincerity  to  be  the 
most  delicious  morsel  he  had  ever  tasted. 

"4  've  an  apple  pasty  to  follow,"  announced  Priscilla, 
as  her  husband  pushed  away  his  plate.  "  Rachel,  you 
and  Timothy  may  take  away  the  trenchers  and  bring 
some  fresh  ones ;  and  Sally,  have  you  a  jug  of  cream 
and  a  morsel  of  cheese  for  us  in  your  dairy  ?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,  mother,"  and  Sally,  glad  to  escape 
Alick's  scrutiny,  jumped  up  and  retreated  to  the  dairy. 

"  While  John  Rowland  was  in  Boston  he  saw  Ras 
Brewster,"  said  Joseph  to  keep  up  the  conversation, 
which  rather  lagged  through  Betty's  preoccupation  and 
her  mother's  housewifely  cares. 

"  He  has  been  at  Kennebec  all  this  time,  has  n't  he  ?  " 
asked  Alick  with  somewhat  languid  interest. 


294  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Yes,  but  Master  Winslow  sent  for  him  to  company 
him  to  England.  Will  they  make  any  stay  there, 
father  ?  " 

"  The  Lord  only  knows,  my  son,"  returned  Alden  with 
a  ponderous  sigh.  "  The  Bay  people,  that  is  to  say  the 
authorities,  have  to  my  mind  done  an  ill-advised  thing  in 
tolling  Edward  Winslow  away  from  us.  They  say  he 
has  a  skillful  tongue  and  good  acquaintance  with  the 
ways  of  courts ;  and  so  he  hath,  so  he  hath,  but  also  he 
has  a  home,  and  comrades  of  old  time  who  look  to  him 
for  comfort  and  aid,  the  more  that  so  many  of  the  old 
stock  are  removed  by  death  or  distance.  It  is  not  well 
done  of  the  Bay  people,  and  much  do  I  hope  that  Wins- 
low  will  not  deeply  engage  himself  in  their  concerns." 

"  And  Wrastle  has  gone  with  him  ?  "  asked  Alick  in 
a  low  voice  of  Joseph,  who  nodded  assent,  adding  pres 
ently,  as  his  father  lapsed  into  silence,  — 

"  He  '11  be  writer  and  keep  the  papers,  —  a  secretary, 
Master  Winslow  called  it ;  and  Ras  said  there  was  no 
knowing  when  he  might  come  back." 

"  Now  here  's  the  pie,  and  the  cheese,  and  the  cream, 
and  some  fresh  nutcakes,  and  some  metheglin ;  so^ease 
your  lament,  John,  and  be  merry  while  you  may  !  "  cried 
Priscilla,  cutting  the  pie,  which  was  baked  in  a  great 
iron  basin,  and  was  more  of  a  pudding  than  a  pie,  as  it 
needed  to  be,  since  fourteen  hungry  mouths  were  to  feed 
upon  it. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

TOO    LATE  !       TOO   LATE  ! 

THE  Thursday  evening  lecture  was  over,  and  Barbara 
Standish,  with  her  son  Josias  and  some  of  the  neigh 
bors,  strayed  homeward  along  the  footpath  leading  from 
Harden  Hill  to  the  Brewster  and  Standish  farms  ;  but 
Lora  lingered  with  her  father,  who  spoke  of  English 
politics  with  Kenelm  ^inslow,  who  had  just  received  a 
letter  from  his  brother  Edward  now  at  the  English 
court. 

"  One  moment,  Captain,"  said  the  Elder's  grave  and 
friendly  voice,  as  Winslow  bade  good-night,  and  Standish 
turned  to  look  after  Lora  who  had  strayed  down  toward 
the  water.  "One  moment  before  you  summon  the  little 
maid.  I  have  letters  from  England  "  — 

"  And  I  too,  God  save  the  mark  !  "  growled  Standish, 
who  all  the  evening  had  worn  the  face  of  a  thunder 
cloud. 

"  111  news,  I  fear,"  said  his  friend  gently. 

"  Not  more  ill  than  one  who  has  known  the  world  for 
half  a  century  should  look  for ;  naught  more  novel  than 
falsehood,  and  treachery,  and  covetousness,  and  wrong." 

"  Nay,  friend  Myles,  nay,  my  brother  ;  '  Charity  suf- 
fereth  long  and  is  kind '"  — 

"  Suffereth  long,  but  opens  her  eyes  at  last.  However, 
I  will  not  burden  you  with  mine  own  griefs,  Elder ;  you 
had  somewhat  to  say  to  me." 


296  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Yes,  but  I  fear  me  't  is  in  an  ill-chosen  time.  Your 
spirit  is  much  disturbed." 

"  Not  so  much  that  I  cannot  heed  my  duty,  sir." 

"Nay,  Myles,  take  not  so  stern  a  tone  with  your 
ancient  friend  and  constant  well-wisher.  I  fain  would 
touch  the  tender  spot  that  well  I  know  lies  deep  within 
your  heart.  I  would  speak  of  our  children,  Captain." 

"  Ah  !  and  you  have  heard  from  Rastle  ?  " 

"  Yes.  A  long  letter,  the  full  outpouring  of  his  heart, 
and  still  the  song  has  but  one  refrain,  the  story  but  one 
theme.  Can  you  guess  it,  friend  ?  " 

"Ay,  I  can  guess  it." 

"  And  fain  would  hear  no  more  on  't  ?  " 

"  I  know  not,  Elder,  I  know  not ;  of  a  truth  my  soul 
is  vexed  within  me,  and  shapes  of  wrath  and  bloodshed 
that  I  had  thought  buried  with  the  old  life  have  wakened 
and  are  thundering  at  the  gate  of  my  will.  Had  I  that 
man  here  on  this  convenient  sod,  and  I  with  Gideon  in 
mine  hand  "  — 

The  grating  of  strong  teeth,  set  all  unconsciously, 
closed  the  sentence,  and  in  the  soft  gray  of  the  twilight 
hour  the  Elder  examined  the  face  of  his  companion  with 
anxious  scrutiny,  then  sternly  spoke  :  — 

"  Man  !  Satan  is  at  your  shoulder  and  whispering  in 
your  ear !  I  can  all  but  see  and  hear  him." 

"  All  but !  "  laughed  Standish.  "  There  is  no  perad- 
venture  about  it  to  me." 

"  Call  that  pure  maid  to  your  side,  and  the  Evil  One 
will  flee." 

"  Nay.  Tell  me  what  your  boy  says.  Haply  't  is  a 
better  time  than  you  could  guess." 

The  old  man  once  more  examined  the  face  Standish 
would  neither  avert  nor  soften,  and  then,  unable  to  com- 


TOO  LATE!  TOO  LATE!        297 

prehend,  yet  following  meekly  the  intuitions  that  guide 
faithful  souls  in  such  matters,  he  drew  from  his  breast  a 
folded  sheet  of  the  coarse  rough  paper  Spielmann  had  in 
England  taught  the  men  of  Dartford  to  manufacture  at 
a  cost  which  would  terrify  Marcus  Ward  to-day,  and 
slowly  unfolding  it  said,  — 

"  I  will  read  you  my  lad's  own  words.  The  first  page 
doth  but  tell  of  his  voyage  and  his  situation  in  fair  lodg 
ings  with  Edward  Winslow,  who  is  as  a  father  to  him, 
and  then  he  goes  on :  — 

"  '  There  are  many  fair  ladies  at  the  court  who  kindly 
notice  me  as  Master  Winslow's  associate ;  but,  father, 
you  know  how  it  is  with  my  heart,  for  I  fully  laid  it 
open  to  you  before  I  went  away,  sore  hurt  by  what  Cap 
tain  Standish  said  to  me  the  day  you  wot  of  ;  nor  have 
I  seen  the  lady  of  my  love  since  that  day,  nor  shall  I,  as 
I  think,  while  we  two  abide  below.  And  yet,  sir,  her 
image  is  more  present  to  mine  eyes  than  are  the  faces  of 
these  dames,  or  even  your  own,  though  there  is  naught 
so  dear  to  me  in  this  world  as  yourself,  —  that  is  to  say, 
if  you  will  bear  with  my  fantasy,  there  's  naught  outside 
of  me  so  dear  as  my  father  ;  but  Lora  is  within,  the  life 
of  my  life  and  essence  of  my  being,  and  how  should  a 
man  say  his  own  being  is  dear  to  him,  for  to  what  should 
his  own  being  belong  save  to  itself  and  the  God  who 
gave  it  ?  Honored  father,  I  feel  that  I  should  crave 
pardon  of  your  dignity  for  thus  claiming  its  indulgence 
of  a  lover's  fond  imaginings ;  but,  sir,  you  know  how 
since  my  mother's  death  left  me  a  little  lonely  child, 
your  tenderness  and  care  have  filled  both  a  father's  and 
mother's  room  in  my  life,  and  to-day  I  speak  to  you  as  I 
might  to  her  had  she  been  alive ;  and  as  I  dream  of  lay 
ing  my  head  in  her  lap  and  feeling  her  hand  upon  my 


298  HETTY  ALDEN. 

hair  and  her  half-remembered  voice  in  mine  ears,  so 
now  I  come  to  you  and  say,  I  love  this  maid.  I  love 
her  with  all  the  power  of  loving  God  hath  given  me.  I 
love  her  as  Jacob  did  Rachel,  as  Isaac  did  Rebecca,  ay, 
my  father,  as  you  did  my  mother,  and  life  will  never 
reach  its  fullness  for  me  except  I  may  mingle  it  with  her 
pure  life.  Father,  is  there  no  hope  ?  Is  there  no  seven 
years'  or  fourteen  years'  probation  that  may  for  me  pass 
as  a  few  days  for  love  of  her  ?  Will  not  you  speak  once 
again  to  the  captain  for  me  ?  I  know  not  how  she  feels 
concerning  me.  When  I  spoke  to  her  on  that  fair  eve  it 
was  like  arousing  a  child  from  its  dreams  of  heaven ; 
she  knew  not  what  I  meant,  nor  how  far  her  own  heart 
could  respond  to  a  love  whose  face  and  voice  as  yet  were 
strange  to  her ;  but  with  all  her  tender  innocence  she 
hath  a  singular  aptness  of  mind,  and  a  delicate  discrim 
ination  that  will  ere  now  have  spoken  to  her  heart  many 
a  homily  drawn  from  the  text  I  gave  her  in  that  sweet 
hour.  I  cannot  tell,  I  dare  not  think,  but  something 
within  me  dares  to  hope  that  Lora  loves  me.  Oh,  how 
fair  those  words  look  set  down  on  paper,  LORA  LOVES 
ME  !  Nay,  father,  I  have  spent  a  good  half  hour  in  star 
ing  at  those  three  words  as  if  they  were  some  new  gos 
pel  of  hope.  Father !  I  dare  not  ask  your  indulgence, 
and  yet  I  know  I  have  it,  and  well  do  you  know  when 
I  thus  unveil  what  some  men  would  call  my  weakness  to 
your  eyes,  that  my  reverence  never  was  greater  or  more 
profound ;  but  as  I  writ  before,  't  is  to  mv  mother  in 
you  that  I  dare  tell  all  these  the  deepest  secrets  of  my 
heart  And  now  I  will  say  no  more,  lest  repetition 
weaken  what  hath  already  been  said.  But  you  will  speak 
to  the  captain,  will  you  not  ?  Tell  him  —  nay,  you 
shall,  if  you  see  fit  and  find  him  in  the  mood,  you  shall 


TOO  LATE!  TOO  LATE!        299 

show  him  this  letter ;  for  though  't  was  written  for  no 
eyes  but  my  father's  and  mother's,  't  is  the  truth  as  I 
would  speak  it  before  God,  and  if  all  went  as  I  would 
have  it,  Lora's  father  should  be  my  father  too,  —  not 
like  you,  mine  own  father,  but  in  some  sort ;  and  well 
do  I  know  how  dear  he  loves  mine  own  sweet  maid. 
Mayhap  that  love  in  him  will  answer  to  this  cry  of  love 
from  me,  since  both  are  fixed  upon  the  same  dear  object. 
But  there !  I  will  stop  at  this  word,  for  should  I  go 
on  all  night  and  all  to-morrow,  my  pen  could  only  trace 
again  and  again  the  words  it  hath  so  often  writ.  I  love 
her,  I  love  her,  I  love  her  ! 

"  '  On  this  other  slip  of  paper  I  have  copied  out  some 
verses  lent  me  by  a  lady  of  the  court,  Countess  of  Pem 
broke  she  is  called,  and  a  right  sweet  and  fair  dame  she 
is ;  but  still  I  must  speak  of  her  as  Sir  Henry  Wotton, 
who  wrote  the  verses,  saith  to  all  other  ladies  as  com 
pared  with  his  sovereign  lady,  the  English  princess  whom 
he  served  after  she  became  queen  of  Bohemia,  — 

u  What 's  your  praise, 
When  Philomel  her  voice  doth  raise  !  " 

"  '  And  so  with  my  humble  duty  and  constant  affec 
tion,  I  am,  dear  sir, 

Your  humble  and  obedient  son, 

WRESTLING  BREWSTER. 

" '  P.  S.  The  copy  of  verses  is  meant  for  Mistress 
Lora's  own  hand,  if  her  father  makes  no  objection. 

W.  B.' 

"  And  here  are  the  verses,"  said  the  Elder,  as  the 
captain  took  the  letter  and  immediately  gave  it  back, 
while  conflicting  emotions  strove  eloquently  upon  his  face. 
Then  accepting  the  second  paper,  and  turning  his  shoul 
der  to  the  failing  light,  lie  read  half  aloud  :  — 


300  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  '  Ye  meaner  beauties  of  the  night, 
That  poorly  satisfy  our  eyes 
More  by  your  number  than  your  light, 
You  common  people  of  the  skies, 
What  are  you  when  the  sun  shall  rise  I 

"  'You  curious  chanters  of  the  wood 
That  warble  forth  Dame  Nature's  lays. 
Thinking  your  meaning  understood 
By  your  weak  accents,  what 's  your  praise 
When  Philomel  her  voice  doth  raise  ! 

'  '  Ye  violets  that  first  appear, 
By  your  pure  purple  mantles  known, 
Like  the  proud  virgins  of  the  year 
As  if  the  spring  were  all  your  own, 
What  are  you  when  the  rose  is  blown  ! 

'' ' '  So  when  my  mistress  shall  be  seen 
In  form  and  beauty  of  her  mind, 
By  virtue  first,  then  choice  a  queen, 
Tell  me,  is  she  not  one  designed 
The  Eclipse  and  Glory  of  her  kind  ?  ' " 

Folding  the  verses,  Standish  held  out  his  hand  for  the 
letter,  and  placed  the  one  carefully  within  the  other,  his 
deliberate  movements  betraying  the  preoccupation  of  his 
mind ;  then  raising  his  gloomy  eyes  to  the  Elder's  face, 
he  said,  — 

"  Your  son  speaks  of  Rebecca.  When  Isaac's  am 
bassador  asked  her  from  her  kinsfolk  they  made  answer, 
1  We  will  call  the  damsel,  and  inquire  at  her  mouth.' 
So  say  I  to  you,  Elder." 

"  What !  if  Lora  consent,  you  will  not  refuse  her  to 
my  son  ?  " 

"  We  will  call  the  damsel,  and  inquire  at  her  mouth. 
Oh,  no,  we  will  not  startle  her  again,  as  your  son  con- 


TOO  LATE!  TOO  LATE!        301 

fesses  that  he  did  on  that  ill-starred  night.  Give  me 
the  letter  if  you  will,  and  I  will  bid  her  read  and  pon 
der  it  through  the  night,  and  to-morrow  I  will  come 
and  tell  you  ;  or  no,  —  if  it  be  as  you  wish,  she  shall 
come  herself  and  tell  you." 

"  I  felt  that  my  boy's  words  must  move  a  father's 
heart,"  replied  the  Elder  with  a  loving  complacency, 
which  sank  abashed  before  the  fierce  glance  of  the  cap 
tain's  eyes,  as  he  strode  away,  muttering,  — 

"  Had  not  they  suited  my  purpose,  his  mops  and 
mows  had  been  my  scoff." 

Down  near  the  edge  of  the  bluff  that  finishes  Harden 
Hill  stood  Lora,  leaning  lightly  against  a  birch,  whose 
silver  bark  seemed  some  quaint  ornament  of  her  white 
samite  robe,  like  the  gauzy  scarf  thrown  around  her  head 
and  shoulders.  One  slender  foot  in  its  silver-buckled 
shoe  showed  beneath  the  hem  of  her  robe  as  if  about  to 
follow  the  earnest  gaze  bent  seaward.  So  profound  was 
the  maiden's  meditation  that  she  did  not  hear  her 
father's  step,  and  was  only  roused  by  his  sombre  voice 
asking,  — 

"  Of  what  are  you  dreaming,  Lora  ?  " 

"  Oh !    Is  it  time  to  go  home,  father  ?  " 

"  Of  what  are  you  dreaming,  child  ?  " 

"  Nay,  father  dear,  my  dreams  are  not  worth  the 
telling."  And  with  a  pretty  air  of  coaxing  the  girl 
turned  and  laid  a  hand  upon  her  father's  arm  ;  but  he, 
withdrawing  a  step,  almost  sternly  persisted,  — 

"  But  yet  I  will  know  them,  Lora.  Tell  me  truly,  of 
what  or  of  whom  were  you  thinking,  and  why  did  you 
look  so  earnestly  over  the  sea  ?  " 

"  The  moon  is  rising,  father,"  stammered  the  young 
girl  with  a  piteous  attempt  at  unconcern.  "  I  was  look' 
ing  at  her." 


302  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  'T  is  not  like  you,  my  maid,  to  trifle  and  palter  in 
your  replies.  Will  you  tell  me  of  what  or  of  whom  you 
thought  ?  " 

"  Nay,  father,  if  you  insist  I  must  obey,  but  mayhap 
you  '11  be  vexed  at  my  thought." 

"  Mayhap  't  is  my  own  thought,  child.  Mayhap  I  've 
come  to  wish  what  you  were  wishing  as  you  looked  over 
the  sea." 

"  Oh,  no,  no,  father,  and  no  indeed  !  "  cried  Lora  with 
a  horror-stricken  look  upon  her  face.  "  'T  is  not  your 
wish,  and  yet  perhaps  't  will  be  what  —  and  it  may  be 
but  mine  own  foolish  fancy,  but  I  was  thinking,  father 
dear,  that  if  the  time  comes  soon,  I  would  well  like  to 
lie  just  here  under  this  loving  tree  that  seems  bending 
to  clip  me  in  its  arms  ;  just  here,  father,  on  this  little 
slope,  with  the  sea  singing  lullaby  at  my  feet,  and  the 
fair  moon  making  a  silver  road  from  earth  to  heaven, 
and  the  whispering  leaves  of  the  birch,  —  to  lie  down 
still  and  dreamless,  with  this  my  robe  of  white  samite 
folded  close  around  my  feet,  and  my  hair,  so  far  too 
heavy  now,  uncoiled  and  unbraided,  and  my  two  hands 
clasped  upon  my  breast,  and  some  of  mother's  fair  white 
posies  beneath  them  "  — 

"  Lora !  Lora !  For  Christ's  sweet  sake,  look  at  me  ! 
Look  at  me,  darling,  and  change  that  smile  for  one  that 
I  dare  to  meet !  Change  it  for  tears,  mine  own,  tears 
rather  than  such  a  smile ;  but  no,  no  —  see,  here  is  a 
letter,  a  letter  full  of  this  world's  love,  and  life,  and 
a  man's  honest  human  longing  to  make  my  maid  his 
wife.  Wrestling  wants  to  marry  you,  my  bird,  my 
flower,  my  little  Lora !  Oh,  Lora,  Lora  darling,  under 
stand  me,  and  take  that  awful  smile  from  your  lips  ! 
Wrestling  would  marry  you,  and  I  give  my  full  and 
free  consent ;  yes,  freely  and  gladly,  dear.  See,  here  's 


TOO  LATE!  TOO  LATE!        303 

the  letter,  and  some  pretty  poesy,  and  such  honey-sweet 
words,  —  take  it,  darling,  and  read  it ;  or  no,  —  't  is 
gruesome  here  among  the  graves  ;  come  home  to  mother, 
and  read  it  sitting  in  her  lap.  Come,  pussy,  come  !  You 
love  him,  don't  you,  my  lass  ?  That 's  all  that  ails  you, 
is  n't  it  ?  Oh,  say  you  love  him  and  will  be  his  wife,  and 
we  '11  build  you  such  a  fair  little  home  close  beside 
father's,  my  poppet ;  and  there  '11  be  little  children  by 
and  by  to  call  me  granddad,  and  make  a  hobby-horse 
of  Gideon  —  Nay,  nay,  she  hears  not  a  word !  Lora  ! 
Lora  !  Speak  to  me  !  " 

"  This  letter,  father  !     Did  it  come  from  Ras  ?     Did 
he  write  it  with  his  own  hand  ?  " 

"  Yes,  my  darling.    Come  home  and  read  "  — 
"  I  am  reading  it  now,  and  more  —  and  more." 
"  Nay,  dear,  you  have  not  opened  it."     And  Myles, 
pale  and  trembling,  tried  to  take  the  letter  from  between 
Lora's  folded  hands.     But  she,  drawing  away,  held  it 
firmly,  and  gazing  fixedly  out  to  sea  murmured,  — 

"  He  loves  me  so !  Dear  lad !  He  loves  me  so, 
and  thinks  of  all  it  may  cost  him,  and  yet  —  brave 
Ras  !  brave  and  noble  heart !  She  clings  to  him,  and 
he  will  not  push  her  aside  !  Oh,  poor  woman,  how  she 
writhes  in  her  agony,  and  clings  and  clings ;  and  now  he 
has  carried  her  into  the  hovel  and  laid  her  down,  and 
one  says,  « 'T  is  the  plague,  and  yon  poor  gentleman 
must  die  for  his  charity,'  and  he  turns  away  and  whis 
pers,  '  Lora  ! '  Yes,  darling,  yes  !  I  know  now  that  I 
love  you,  dear,  —  wait  —  nay,  he  cannot  wait,  but  goes 
before,  and  I  —  will  come  —  yes,  dear  heart,  I  will "  — 
And  before  her  father  could  grasp  her  she  slid  from 
his  hands,  and  lay  there  beneath  the  birch-tree,  the 
moon  shining  upon  her  white  robe,  and  her  face  as 
white,  and  the  hands  clasping  the  letter  to  her  breast. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

PEEPING   TOM    AND    HIS    BROTHER. 

DAME  ALICE  BRADFORD  sat  alone  in  her  fair  bed 
room,  its  latticed  windows  swinging  wide  to  admit  the 
flower-laden  breeze  that,  young  and  fresh  as  when  we 
saw  it  peeping  in  at  the  council  of  the  fathers  and  the 
stitching  of  the  little  maids,  peeped  now  at  the  still  fig 
ure  of  the  matron,  sitting  for  once  quite  idle,  her  hands 
folded  listlessly  upon  her  lap.  She  was  thinking,  as  it 
chanced,  of  that  very  morning,  long  ago,  when  the  green 
footstool  cover  was  finished,  and  her  little  Mercy  and 
Desire  Rowland  had  admired  it  so  much,  and  each 
begun  one  like  it ;  and  now  Mercy,  her  one  daughter,  her 
little  ewe  lamb  as  she  called  her  in  thought,  was  Mistress 
Vermayes,  with  a  home  in  Boston  and  a  grand  future 
before  her,  and  Desire  Rowland  was  married  to  John 
Gorham  ;  and  although  her  two  boys  William  and  Jo 
seph  were  as  good  sons  as  a  mother  need  ask,  they  were 
sons,  and  not  daughters,  nor  was  Dame  Alice  in  haste 
to  see  them  bring  daughters  home  to  her. 

A  few  slow,  meek  tears  gathered  in  her  eyes  and 
overflowed  just  as  the  door  opened  and  the  governor 
came  in  with  a  letter  in  his  hand.  A  glance  at  his  wife 
showed  him  her  case,  and  he  said  tenderly,  — 

"  Is  it  the  empty  nest,  sweetheart,  that  grieves  you  ?  " 

"  Nay,  Will,  how  can  I  be  lonesome  while  you  are 
left  to  me  ?  " 


PEEPING  TOM  AND  HIS  BROTHER.        305 

"  Well  and  bravely  said,  my  wife,  and  yet  I  blame 
thee  not,  I  blame  thee  not.  I  miss  the  dear  maid 
myself  oftener  than  I  would  like  to  say.  But  you  know- 
how  oft  we've  spoke  of  your  sister  Mary  Carpenter  in 
her  lonely  estate  since  her  mother  died  "  — 

"  And  my  mother  as  well  as  hers,"  suggested  Alice 
with  a  little  sob. 

"  Why  surely,  dear  heart,  and  I  know  well  that  you 
grieve  for  her  ;  but  now  I  've  written  to  Mary,  bidding 
her  come  and  make  her  home  with  us,  and  offering  to 
pay  the  charges  of  her  voyage,  since  she  is  left  in  such 
straitened  case,  and  here  's  the  letter  all  ready  to  send 
by  Kenelm  Win  slow,  who  is  summoned  by  his  brother 
to  England  to  receive  some  instructions.  Kenelm  will 
go  to  Bristol  and  see  Mary,  but  I  have  bidden  her  not 
to  wait  for  his  escort  back,  but  to  come  so  soon  as  she 
can  light  of  safe  company,  since  you  need  her  here." 

"  Oh,  Will  dear,  which  shall  I  praise  first,  your  ten 
der  thought  for  me,  or  your  goodness  to  my  sister  ?  " 

"  Well,  for  that  matter,  dame,  I  fancy  it  all  comes 
under  one  head,  for  if  it  were  not  to  pleasure  you  I 
know  not  that  I  should  urge  Mistress  Carpenter  across 
the  seas  to  bear  me  company." 

"  There  's  a  young  gentlewoman  below  asking  to  see 
our  dame,"  said  the  voice  of  Tabitha  Rowse  at  the  door, 
and  Alice,  with  a  gentle  look  of  love  and  thanks  in  her 
husband's  face,  followed  the  girl  downstairs,  and  enter 
ing  the  new  parlor  said  pleasantly,  — 

"  Oh,  it  is  you,  Mistress  Gillian,  is  it  ?  I  should 
think  Tabitha  would  have  remembered  you." 

"  I  have  not  been  in  Plymouth  more  than  once  or 
twice  since  the  dear  Elder's  funeral,"  said  Gillian  sor 
rowfully. 


306  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  The  dear  Elder,  yes,"  replied  Dame  Alice.  "  He  'e 
been  mourned  but  once  among  us,  for  the  first  mourn 
ing  hath  not  ceased,  nor  will  it  soon  with  those  who 
knew  and  loved  him." 

"  Yet  none  loved  him  like  me,  for  he  was  the  best 
friend,  the  only  friend  I  had  in  all  the  world !  "  And 
in  a  burst  of  emotion  honest  enough,  and  yet  more 
uncontrolled  than  the  emotions  of  most  persons  of  that 
place  and  time,  Gillian  sobbed  and  cried,  and  hid  her 
face  upon  the  cushion  of  the  great  chair  beside  which  she 
had  sunk,  until  the  dame,  laying  a  hand  upon  the  round 
shoulder  whence  the  cape  had  slipped,  said  kindly  yet 
reprovingly,  — 

"  Nay,  Gillian,  't  is  not  meet  to  give  way  to  even  the 
worthiest  grief  in  such  fashion  as  this.  Dry  up  your 
eyes  now,  while  I  go  to  fetch  you  some  orange-flower 
water,  and  when  you  have  drunk  it  we  will  speak  of 
other  matters." 

"  Nay,  dear  lady,  I  want  no  orange-flower  water, 
nor  to  keep  you  longer  than  need  be,  but  I  have  come 
to  you  a  beggar,  and  would  fain  make  my  petition  ere 
my  courage  fails." 

"  A  petition,  maiden  ?  Well,  now,  what  is  it  ?  Some 
thing  that  I  can  grant,  I  hope,  for  I  love  to  pleasure 
young  maids  for  my  dear  daughter's  sake." 

"  Ah,  sweet  Dame  Alice,  if  I  might  come  and  be  a 
daughter  to  you  !  There  's  my  petition  all  in  one  word, 
—  that  I  may  come  and  live  with  you.  Am  I  over 
bold  ?  " 

"  To  live  with  me,  Gillian  ?  Why,  how  do  you  mean, 
child?" 

"  Let  me  come  and  be  in  the  place  of  a  daughter  and 
yet  not  claim  a  daughter's  love  or  rights,  unless,  indeed, 


PEEPING  TOM  AND  HIS  B BOTHER.        307 

I  serve  you  so  well  that  you  cannot  but  love  me  a  little, 
and  so  comfort  your  own  heart.  I  have  no  home,  and 
I  know  no  one  with  whom  I  am  so  fain  to  live  as  with 
you,  dear  dame." 

"But  your  aunt,  Lucretia  Brewster  "  — 

"  They  are  going  to  Connecticut  as  soon  as  may  be, 
and  my  aunt  says  she  needs  me  not,  if  I  can  find  another 
home,  and  Love  Brewster  and  his  wife  treat  me  ill,  and 
since  the  dear,  dear  old  Elder  died  I  have  no  one  left  to 
say  one  kind  or  careful  word  to  me  ;  and  oh,  dame,  I 
do  wish,  arid  more  than  once  or  twice,  that  I  lay  beside 
my  mother  "  — 

"  Poor  child,  poor  orphan  child  !  "  murmured  Alice 
Bradford,  laying  a  hand  upon  the  girl's  silken  tresses  as 
the  head  rested  against  her  knee  in  all  the  abandonment 
of  grief.  "  Yes,  you  shall  come  and  stay  with  us  for 
a  while,  at  least,  if  the  governor  consent,  as  I  am  sure 
he  will,  and  if  your  kinsfolk  make  no  objection.  Love 
and  Sarah  are  here  to-day,  are  they  not  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  Sarah's  father,  Master  Prence,  is  removing  his 
chattels  left  in  the  house  he  used  while  he  was  gov 
ernor,  and  Love  and  Sarah  came  to  help  him."  And 
Gillian,  her  end  attained,  rose  gracefully  to  her  feet, 
straightened  her  dress  and  smoothed  back  her  ruddy 
hair,  while  Dame  Alice,  gazing  out  of  the  window  to 
ward  the  harbor,  sadly  thought  of  the  bereavement 
Plymouth  that  day  was  suffering ;  for  a  colony  of  some 
of  her  best  men,  headed  by  Thomas  Prence,  with  Nich 
olas  Snow  and  his  wife,  once  Constance  Hopkins,  Cook, 
Doane,  Bangs,  and  others,  were  embarking  with  all  their 
cattle  and  household  goods  for  Nauset  on  the  Cape, 
there  to  found  the  town  of  Eastham,  fondly  dreaming 
it  should  become  the  successor  of  Plymouth,  which  by 


308  BETTY  ALDEN. 

successive  emigrations,  deaths,  and  shrinkage  of  values 
seemed  threatened  with  extinction,  dull  and  lifeless. 
As  Bradford  himself  wrote  that  day  in  the  journal  so 
invaluable  to  us  all,  — 

"  Thus  was  this  poor  church  left  like  an  ancient 
mother,  grown  old  and  forsaken  of  her  children,  until 
she  that  had  made  many  rich  herself  became  poor." 

Fighting  against  the  depression  of  spirits  and  want  of 
interest  in  what  remained  that  assailed  his  spirit,  the 
governor  gladly  consented  to  accept  Gillian  Brewster,  as 
everybody  called  her,  as  an  inmate  of  his  house,  and 
a  few  days  later  she  was  installed  in  the  pretty  bedroom 
first  occupied  by  Priscilla  Carpenter,  now  a  portly  and 
sedate  matron,  wife  of  John  Cooper,  of  Barnstable,  and 
at  a  later  date  by  Mercy  Bradford,  lately  become  Mis 
tress  Vermayes.  Nor  did  her  new  patrons  regret  their 
generosity  for  some  time  to  come,  since  the  girl,  warned 
perhaps  by  late  misadventures,  restrained  the  "  wicked 
lightnings  of  her  eyes "  to  such  flashes  of  summer 
lightning  as  only  served  to  startle  and  amuse  the  be 
holder,  or  at  most  to  suggest  electrical  forces  beneath 
the  surface,  and  to  arouse  a  certain  interest  in  the 
nature  that  concealed  them.  Sometimes,  to  be  sure,  the 
governor's  serious  and  intent  gaze  would  rest  upon  the 
girl's  face  until  she  turned  uneasily  away,  and  some 
times  Dame  Alice  would  speak  in  her  gentle  and  pure- 
toned  voice  of  the  beauty  of  modesty  and  reserve  in  a 
maiden's  character  ;  but  William  and  Joseph  noticed  her 
hardly  more  than  they  did  their  mother's  kitten,  and 
when  occasionally  she  tried  some  little  coquetries  upon 
them,  William  would  look  bored  and  absent-minded, 
and  Joseph  laugh  in  a  satirical  fashion  hard  for  Gillian's 
hot  temper  to  endure.  One  word  between  the  brothers 


PEEPING   TOM  AND  HIS  BROTHER.        309 

may  explain  much  that  to  the  girl  herself  never  was  ex 
plained.  It  was  spoken  in  the  first  days  of  Gillian's 
sojourn  under  their  father's  roof,  when  the  two  young 
men,  gun  on  shoulder,  were  traversing  the  hills  about 
Murdock's  Pond  in  search  of  birds  to  tempt  their 
mother's  languid  appetite.  It  was  Joseph  who  said, 
wiping  his  brow  and  resting  his  "  piece "  upon  a 
crotched  tree,  for  the  day  was  warm,  — 

"  Bill,  this  maid  Gillian  is  the  one  David  Alden  spoke 
of  last  harvest,  is  n't  she  ?  " 

"  Ay,  is  she.  And  mind  you,  Joe,  what  he  said  of 
her  ?  " 

"  That  she  would  wile  a  bird  off  a  bough ;  yes,  that 's 
what  Dave  said,  and  Betty  Alden,  she  puts  in,  '  Allow 
ing  't  was  a  male  bird,  so  she  would.' " 

"  Ay,  Betty  's  keen  as  a  needle,  and  as  straight.  Well, 
Joe,  if  she  's  made  a  fool  of  a  score,  there  's  no  call  for 
us  to  make  it  two-and-twenty,  is  there  ?  " 

"  Indeed  there  's  not,  and  I  would  n't  vex  the  dear 
mother  for  a  cargo  of  red-gold  heads  like  hers." 

"  Nor  for  any  other.  So,  that 's  settled,  Joe,  and 
you  're  breathed  by  now.  Come  on." 

An  hour  later  the  young  men,  worn,  weary,  and  sore 
athirst,  welcomed  the  sound  of  rushing  waters,  heard 
but  not  seen  through  the  thick  foliage,  and  Joseph,  in 
the  advance  as  usual,  cried  out,  — 

"  Hullo  !  Here  's  Jenney's  Mill  close  at  hand.  We  've 
got  enough  birds  for  a  famous  stew,  so  let 's  stop  and 
rest  awhile,  and  speak  with  the  miller's  folk." 

"  '  Folk  '  standing  for  Abby  and  Sally  and  Sue  Jen- 
ney,"  said  William  provokingly. 

"  And  Sam  and  his  new  wife,  who  was  a  great  friend 
of  yours,  Master  Bill,  while  she  was  called  Nanny  Let- 


310  BETTY  ALDEN. 

tice,  and  the  Widow  Jenney,  who  to  my  mind  is  better 
company  than  the  girls." 

"  Ho  !  Ho !  Well,  there  's  naught  like  a  sober  mind 
to  recommend  a  young  fellow,  and  I  'm  glad  to  see  it 
cropping  up  in  your  field,  Father  Joseph.  Well,  we  '11 
make  a  neighborly  call  upon  the  widow,  and  while  you 
talk  about  Parson  Chauncey's  notions  of  immersion  and 
Mr.  Ainsworth's  psalmody  I  '11  e'en  say  a  word  of  a 
lighter  sort  to  the  young  gentlewomen." 

"  Have  your  jest,  Will,  have  your  jest,"  returned  the 
younger  brother  coolly,  **  but  I  know  somewhat  you 
don't." 

"  Think  you  do,  I  dare  say !  A  wise  man  in  his  own 
conceit  is  Joe  Bradford." 

But  seeing  that  his  brother,  instead  of  being  teased, 
was  holding  himself  very  quiet  and  peeping  through  the 
branches  of  the  young  maples  crowding  down  to  the 
brink  of  the  little  river  Plymouth  modestly  calls  The 
Town  Brook,  William  stepped  softly  behind  him,  and 
with  something  of  the  guilty  joy  of  Actaeon,  looked 
upon  almost  as  fair  a  sight  as  he  did. 

No  prettier  spot  was  then,  or  until  very  lately,  to  be 
found  in  the  dear  old  town  which  is  mother  of  us  all, 
than  Holmes's  Dam,  or  as  it  then  was  called  Jenney's 
Mill,  where  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  wood  The  Town 
Brook,  rushing  toward  the  sea,  found  itself  at  a  very 
early  date  impeded  by  a  dam,  more  or  less  artificial  and 
effectual  according  to  the  owner,  but  always  sufficient 
to  turn  the  big  wheel  of  the  gristmill  first  erected  by 
Stephen  Dean,  husband  of  that  Betty  Ring  who  inher 
ited  so  little  of  her  mother's  great  estate,  and  afterward 
carried  on  by  burly  John  Jenney,  who  sat  as  Assistant 
at  the  council  board  when  Duxbury  wrung  consent  for 


PEEPING   TOM  AND  HIS  BROTHER.       311 

separate  identity  from  the  mother  town.  And  now  John 
slept,  although  not  with  his  English  fathers,  and  his 
widow  jointly  with  her  son  Samuel  administered  the 
mill  and  ground  the  grain  not  only  of  Plymouth,  but  of 
Duxbury,  Sandwich,  and  several  other  towns.  With  so 
wide  a  custom  the  miller's  was  a  flourishing  business, 
and  might  have  been  still  more  so  had  it  been  more 
carefully  carried  on,  but  alas !  John  Jenney  was  a  ship 
owner,  and  aspired  to  setting  up  salt-works  at  Clark's 
Island,  and  in  fact  had  a  soul  above  the  pottles  of  meal 
by  which  he  was  supposed  to  live  ;  and  when  his  widow 
succeeded  to  his  estate  the  customers  complained  that 
they  were  forced  to  share  their  grain  with  rats  and  mice, 
and  that  the  miller's  widow  was  too  easy  tempered  to 
be  very  efficient.  Now,  however,  that  the  oldest  son 
was  married  and  the  daughters  were  grown  up,  things 
went  better,  and  the  mill  became  a  popular  resort  for 
the  young  people,  especially  in  hot  weather. 

But  all  this  time  the  governor's  sons  are  peeping 
through  the  boscage,  and  we  peeping  with  them  see 
four  young  girls,  their  kirtles  of  blue  and  white  home 
spun  linen  drawn  about  their  knees,  while  with  bare  feet 
they  comfortably  paddle  in  a  little  pool  formed  by  a 
bend  of  the  stream,  floored  with  beach  sand  and  bor 
dered  by  a  grassy  bank,  whereon  the  four  damsels  sit, 
and  chat  with  all  the  sweet  volubility  of  blackbirds. 
The  rays  of  the  morning  sun  sifting  through  the 
branches  of  the  young  oaks  overhead  dance  merrily 
upon  heads  of  gold  and  brown,  and  the  flaxen  locks 
that  curl  around  Susan  Jenney's  head,  while  her  eyes, 
blue  as  the  blossom  of  the  flax,  gleam  beneath  as  she 
says,  — 

"  We  would  n't  do  this  to-night,  girls,  would  we  ?  " 


312  BETTY  ALDEN. 

11 1  dare  say  the  lads  would  n't  say  nay,  if  we  asked 
them  to  a  wading  match,"  replied  her  sister  Sally  with 
a  twinkling  laugh,  while  Abby,  older  than  the  rest, 
looked  sharply  among  the  bushes,  sayjng,  — 

"  Who  knows  but  we  're  spied  upon !  I  feel  a  creep 
up  my  back." 

"  'T  is  Harry  Wood,  be  sure  on  't !  "  cried  Susan  with 
a  little  flirt  of  her  white  toes  that  sent  the  water  into 
her  sister's  face,  while  William  Bradford,  softly  pulling 
Joseph  backward,  whispered  in  his  lowest  tones,  — 

"  Betty  Alden  's  there,  and  she  'd  never  forgive  us  if 
she  knew  we  'd  spied  on  them." 

"  Here  goes,  then !  "  and  Joseph,  laughing  silently, 
pointed  his  gun  at  the  sky  and  pulled  the  trigger,  then 
hastily  turned  back  to  his  post  of  observation,  clinging 
to  Will's  arm  and  shaking  with  an  earthquake  of  sup 
pressed  merriment,  as  if  he  would  go  to  pieces. 

"  'T  is  like  a  plump  of  white  ducks  that  hear  the  shot 
pattering  around  them,"  whispered  William ;  but  Joe 
was  beyond  speech,  and  could  only  gasp  and  shake  with 
laughter  as  he  watched  the  girls,  who  with  little  shrieks 
and  screams  and  exclamations  clung  to  each  other,  star 
ing  wildly  around,  and  then  gathering  their  feet  up 
under  their  skirts  wriggled  backward  in  some  mysteri 
ous  feminine  fashion,  until  gaining  the  shelter  of  the 
undergrowth  they  stood  up  and  looked  around  them  in 
timid  defiance  for  a  moment,  and  then,  no  foe  presenting 
himself,  Abby,  as  oldest  and  bravest,  darted  out,  and 
seizing  the  shoes  and  stockings  lying  in  a  heap,  bore  them 
triumphantly  under  shelter. 

Some  fifteen  minutes  later,  William  and  Joseph  Brad 
ford,  dignified  and  grave  as  two  young  parsons,  arrived 
at  the  door  of  the  mill  and  were  received  by  Abby  and 


PEEPING   TOM  AND  HIS  BROTHER.        313 

Sally  Jenney,  demure  and  self-possessed  as  possible,  but 
with  eyes  on  the  alert  for  any  indication  that  these  were 
the  peeping  Toms  whom  they  suspected. 

u  We  've  a  surprise  for  you,  William,"  remarked  Abby, 
as  steps  were  heard  descending  the  stairs.  "  Who  do  you 
suppose  is  visiting  us  from  out  of  town  ?  " 

'"  Is  anybody  visiting  you  ?     I  had  not  heard  of  it." 

"  Well,  here  she  is.  Betty,  you  did  not  think  we  'd 
have  company  so  soon  to  bid  you  welcome,  did  you, 
now  ?  " 

"Nay,  Betty,  heed  her  not,"  exclaimed  William,  ris 
ing  to  claim  the  privilege  of  a  salute.  "  'T  is  no  com 
pany,  but  only  two  of  your  old  playmates.  Why, 
you  're  looking  fresh  as  the  morning,  Betty,  is  n't  she, 
Joe  ? "  And  both  young  men  gravely  surveyed  the 
blushing  girl  from  head  to  foot,  noticing  especially  the 
white  thread  hose  and  dainty  buckled  shoes  that  covered 
the  feet  but  now  so  rosy  white  in  the  water  of  the  little 
pool. 

"  How  long  is  it  since  I  saw  you,  Betty  ?  "  demanded 
Joseph  presently,  and  William  paused  in  a  speech  to 
Sally  to  hear  the  reply. 

"  I  really  do  not  know,  Joe  ;  don't  you  ?  " 

"  I  can't  say,  Betty,  can't  say  at  all ;  "  and  Betty,  cast 
ing  a  hasty  glance  at  his  face,  was  met  by  so  serene  a 
smile  that  she  comfortably  assured  herself,  "  It  was  not 
they,  or  they  did  n't  see." 

"  We  're  going  to  have  a  little  company  to-night,  and 
some  games  in  the  old  mill,"  said  Abby  presently. 
"  Will  you  both  come  ?  And  if  the  young  gentlewoman 
at  your  house  would  like  to  make  one  of  the  guests, 
we  're  more  than  happy  to  have  her." 

"  My  mother  is  beholden  to  you  for  remembering  her 


314  BETTY  ALDEN. 

companion,  but  I  doubt  if  Gillian  Brewster  can  be 
spared,"  said  William  a  little  hastily,  and  perhaps  a  lit 
tle  haughtily,  for  he  shrank  from  seeing  the  siren  who 
had  wrought  such  mischief  among  some  of  his  friends 
introduced  to  others  under  shelter  of  his  mother's  name. 
But  Joseph,  heedless  of  his  brother's  tone  and  only  half 
hearing  his  words,  replied  almost  in  the  same  breath,  — 

"You  're  very  thoughtful,  Abby,  and  I  doubt  not 
Gillian  will  like  to  come.  1 11  bring  her  in  my  boat." 

"  Gillian  Brewster  !  "  murmured  Betty  in  a  tone  of 
dismay  that  drew  William  Bradford's  attention  to  her 
face,  suddenly  pale  and  disturbed,  and  going  close  to  the 
girl  who  had  been  to  him  almost  a  sister  for  the  first  ten 
years  of  their  lives,  he  whispered,  "  Shall  I  prevent  it, 
Betty?" 

u  No,  no,  Will !  Why  should  I  care  ?  She  's  naught 
to  me." 

"  Nay,  I  thought "  — 

"  'T  is  a  poor  custom,  Will ;  better  break  it  off  while 
you  can." 

"  The  custom  of  thinking  ?  " 

"Ay.  How  is  Mercy,  and  when  did  your  mother 
hear  from  her  last  ?  " 

Half  an  hour  soon  ran  away,  and  so  did  the  great 
stone  pitcher  of  cider  which  the  miller's  wife  insisted 
upon  producing,  and  the  young  men  took  leave,  prom 
ising  to  be  ready  at  an  early  hour  for  the  evening's 
frolic. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

JENNEY'S  MILL  BY  MOONLIGHT. 

"  FOB  't  is  the  twenty-first  of  June, 
The  merriest  day  in  all  the  year," 

sang  Jack  Jenney,  the  younger  brother  of  the  mill  and 
the  miller,  as  to  amuse  his  sister's  visitors  he  threw  the 
great  wheel  into  gear  and  set  the  machinery  in  motion. 

"  Put  in  a  grist,  you  young  idiot,  and  don't  grind  off 
the  face  of  the  stones,"  growled  Samuel,  standing  by, 
and  not  so  hospitable  as  to  forget  business. 

"  Well,  here  's  Squire  Pabodie's  Indian  waiting  — 
English,  too,  but  that  wants  daylight.  Here,  bear  a 
hand,  Sam,  with  the  Indian."  And  the  two  young  men 
poured  the  two  bushels  of  gold-colored  maize  into  the 
hopper,  while  little  Hope  Rowland,  bending  over  to  see 
it  drawn  down  the  vortex  of  the  cruel  stones,  cried,  — 

"  Poor  Indian !  Do  you  know,  Jack,  one  of  those 
Englishmen  that  came  from  Boston  to  see  the  Rock 
where  our  fathers  first  landed  was  at  the  governor's  to 
dinner,  and  father  was  there,  and  Master  Bradford  said 
he  must  have  some  more  Indian  ground,  and  the  man 
made  great  eyes  and  said,  — 

" '  But  does  your  excellency  chastise  the  savages  in 
such  fashion  as  that  ? '  He  thought,  poor  gentleman, 
that  we  ground  up  the  Indians  !  " 

"  And  doubtless  he  feared  our  governor  next  would 
roar,  — 


316  BETTY  ALDEN. 

'  Fee,  fie,  f aw,  fum ! 
I  smell  the  blood  of  an  Englishman ! 
And  be  he  alive,  or  be  he  dead, 
I  '11  grind  his  bones  to  make  my  bread !  '  " 

And  John  Rowland  junior  put  his  great  hands  upon  his 
sister's  shoulders  to  draw  her  back,  saying,  "  But  we 
won't  have  you  ground  this  grist,  Hope  ;  so  don't  tumble 
in.  Mother  would  n't  like  it." 

"  Oh,  John,  how  you  tease  !  "  cried  Hope,  pouting, 
yet  clinging  to  the  arm  of  her  stalwart  brother,  a  fine 
young  fellow,  who  at  a  later  date  calmly  incurred  judi 
cial  censure  and  a  heavy  fine  for  the  sake  of  warning 
some  Quakers,  in  whose  belief  he  had  no  share,  that  they 
were  about  to  be  arrested  and  imprisoned.  And  from 
that  day  to  our  own  the  stout  Rowland  blood  has  held 
its  own,  foremost  in  that  Army  of  Occupation  which  the 
departing  Pilgrims  left  to  hold  the  land  their  prowess 
had  won. 

But  while  this  little  scene  was  enacted  around  the 
hopper,  William  Pabodie,  who,  bringing  his  father's 
corn  to  mill  late  in  the  afternoon,  had  accepted  an  in 
vitation  to  spend  the  evening  and  join  the  merrymaking, 
wandered  out  of  the  house,  and  standing  beside  the 
pool,  idly  broke  the  branch  of  lilac  that  some  one  had 
given  him  into  little  bits  and  cast  them  upon  the  waters. 

"  Nay,  don't  spoil  the  pretty  posy  so,"  cooed  a  dulcet 
voice  at  his  elbow.  "  If  you  don't  want  it,  give  it  to 
me." 

"  And  welcome,  Mistress  Gillian,"  replied  the  young 
man  coldly,  as  he  held  out  the  flowering  branch. 

"  Oh,  but  't  is  all  torn  and  ragged,"  remonstrated  the 
girl,  touching  it,  then  drawing  back  as  if  it  wounded 
her.  "  Trim  it  for  me  with  your  knife,  good  Master  Wil- 


JENNEFS  MILL  BY  MOONLIGHT.          317 

liam.  Nay,  then,  I  '11  not  borrow  your  unfriendly  tone. 
A  scant  two  months  agone  't  was  Jill  and  Willy  "  — 

"  I  ever  hated  the  name  of  Willy  since  I  was  a 
baby  !  "  exclaimed  the  young  man  petulantly,  yet  tak 
ing  the  branch  and  trimming  it  as  he  was  bid,  while 
Gillian,  pressing  close  to  his  side,  watched  the  operation 
as  if  it  were  some  rare  and  fascinating  sight. 

"  But  why  are  you  so  changed  to  me  ?  "  murmured 
she,  scorning  the  side  issue,  and  like  a  true  woman  keep 
ing  to  the  point  of  personal  interest. 

"  Changed  ?  Am  I  changed  ?  "  asked  the  man  help 
lessly. 

"  Oh,  Will !  Think  of  the  night  you  took  me  in  your 
sledge  to  ride  across  the  snow." 

"  'T  was  a  great  while  ago,"  muttered  Pabodie  awk 
wardly. 

"  Ah,  yes,  a  great  while  ago ;  and  all  that  is  fair  and 
sweet  and  worthy  to  be  had  in  remembrance  of  all  my 
life  is  a  great  while  ago,"  said  the  girl  bitterly,  and  as 
she  raised  her  great  dark  eyes  to  the  moon,  whose  light 
mingled  with  that  of  dying  day,  Pabodie  could  not  but 
see  that  they  were  full  of  tears,  and  that  the  ripe  mouth 
quivered  piteously.  What  man  ever  yet  saw  such  a 
sight  unmoved,  especially  when  the  face  was  so  won 
drous  fair,  the  June  air  so  full  of  fragrance,  the  moon 
so  softly  bright. 

"  Nay,  Gillian,  I  never  meant  to  be  unkind  to  you  !  " 
murmured  William  Pabodie,  half  unconsciously  taking 
the  hand  whose  finger-tips  grazed  his  palm,  and  at  the 
least  invitation  nestled  so  confidingly  into  it. 

"  Gillian,"  said  a  clear,  cool  voice  just  beside  the  pair. 
"I  am  sent  to  call  you  both  to  a  game,  — a  game  for 
all  of  us  to  play  together." 


318  BETTY  ALDEN. 

And  Betty  Alden,  whose  light  footfall  had  not  been 
heard  through  the  sound  of  the  falling  waters,  quietly 
looked  into  William  Pabodie's  face,  superbly  glanced 
over  Gillian's,  let  her  eyes  rest  for  a  moment  upon  the 
branch  of  lilac  which  Gillian  had  seized,  although 
Pabodie  all  unconsciously  still  held  it,  and  then,  with 
one  of  those  smiles  upon  her  lips  which  most  women 
remember  to  have  smiled,  and  most  men  shiver  in  re 
membering  to  have  seen,  she  turned  and  climbed  the 
little  path  to  the  mill  door. 

"  And  now  you  '11  never  speak  to  me  again,  lest  Betty 
Alden  should  chide,"  cried  Gillian,  turning  sharply 
aside,  and  with  a  gesture  of  inimitable  grace  resting 
her  folded  arms  against  a  tree-trunk,  and  laying  her 
forehead  upon  them,  while  a  storm  of  unfeigned  sobs 
and  tears  shook  the  very  tree  she  leaned  on.  William 
Pabodie,  flinging  the  lilac  branch  to  the  ground,  would 
have  passed  her  by,  but  she  made  no  movement  to 
detain  him,  and  so  he  lingered,  looked  at  her  in  sore 
perplexity  for  a  moment,  then  said  in  a  voice  of  con 
temptuous  kindness,  — 

"  It  distresses  me  to  see  you  so,  Gillian,  and  in  very 
truth  there  's  no  call  for  it ;  I  'm  not  your  lover,  and 
that  you  know  "  — 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know  it,  I  know  it !  Poor  me,  there  's 
none  to  love  me,  and  those  I  could  love  to  the  death 
care  less  for  me  than  for  another's  frown." 

"  Nay,  mistress,  I  'm  one  that  fears  no  woman's 
frown,  nor  change  my  friends  to  suit  any  fancy  but 
mine  own." 

"  But  alas,  Gillian  's  not  one  of  those  friends !  " 

"  Why,  yes  you  are,  Gillian,  yes  you  are  as  much  my 
friend  as  —  as  ever." 


JENNET'S  MILL  BY  MOONLIGHT.         319 

"  I  'm  your  friend  ?     Ay,  but  are  you  mine,  Will  ?  " 

"  Yes  —  that  is  to  say  "  — 

"  That  is  to  say,  so  far  as  Betty  Alden  permits," 
cried  Gillian,  honestly  losing  control  of  herself,  and 
flashing  into  the  young  man's  eyes  a  look  that  made 
him  start  back  as  Julio  did  when  Lamia  suddenly 
revealed  herself  a  serpent.  Without  a  word  he  strode 
past  her  and  up  the  hill,  where  seeking  out  his  friend, 
Will  Bradford,  he  drew  him  aside  and  said,  "  Would 
you  do  me  a  kindness,  Will  ?  " 

"  You  know  I  would,  man.     What  is  it  ?  " 

"  Take  Gillian  Brewster  away  as  soon  as  may  be." 

"  Oho  !    What  has  she  done  now  ?  " 

"  That 's  what  I  can't  tell  you,  Bill,  but  you  '11  trust 
me  that  it  's  no  discourtesy  that  I  can  help,  to  make 
such  a  petition." 

"  I  know  that,  Bill  Pabodie." 

"Well,  then"  — 

"  I  '11  manage  it,  but  not  of  a  sudden." 

"  No,  no  ;  only  so  that  I  may  get  a  quiet  word  with 
Betty  before  I  leave." 

"  Ay,  it  's  in  that  quarter  the  storm  is  brewing,  is 
it  ?  Well,  in  an  hour  or  so  I  '11  manage  it." 

But  before  the  hour  was  over  Gillian  herself,  for  after 
all  she  was  as  yet  but  a  young  maid,  and  not  seasoned 
in  such  matters  as  another  ten  years  might  have  sea 
soned  her,  came  to  William,  and  resting  on  his  arm  said 
plaintively,  — 

"  I  'm  very  weary,  Will.  When  might  we  be  leav 
ing?" 

"  They  're  just  going  to  supper,  and  while  they  sit 
down  we  can  slip  away  if  you  like,  and  in  sooth  you 
do  look  weary,"  said  Bradford  not  unkindly,  and  Gil- 


320  BETTY  ALDEN. 

Kan,  in  a  little  impulse  of  womanliness,  replied  with  a 
wan  smile,  — 

"  Nay,  I  '11  not  take  you  from  your  supper.  There  's 
a  roast  pig  and  apple-sauce,  I  hear." 

"  Oh,  that  's  naught,  that  's  naught,"  protested  the 
young  man ;  but  his  healthy  appetite  so  rose  up  in  ap 
proval  of  the  roasted  suckling  that  it  looked  out  at  his 
eyes,  and  Gillian,  laughing  a  little,  scoffingly  said,  — 

"  If  it  's  naught  to  you,  it  's  something  to  me,  and 
I  '11  not  stir  till  I  've  had  roast  pig  and  seed-cake  and 
a  glass  of  sweet  wine,  and  mayhap  a  little  taste  of 
arrack  punch.  May  I  sit  by  you,  Will,  and  sip  out  of 
your  glass  ?  " 

"  Yes,  that  will  be  fine,"  cried  Will,  seeing  a  happy 
compromise  open  before  him.  "  If  you  '11  sit  by  me 
and  look  at  no  other  fellow  but  me,  I  '11  stay  ;  but  if 
you  're  going  to  tease  me,  I  '11  not." 

"I  '11  look  at  none  but  you,"  promised  Gillian  gently, 
but  her  active  brain  was  already  shaping  the  query, 
"  What  does  he  know  ?  What  has  he  heard  ?  "  and 
then  replying  to  itself,  "  What  matter !  Fools  all  of 
them,  and  I  the  worst  fool  of  all." 

So  amidst  the  frank,  possibly  unrefined,  certainly 
hearty  merriment  of  the  time  and  place  the  roast  pig 
and  roasted  russet  apples  were  eaten,  and  the  loaf  of 
seed-cake  and  another  of  fruit-cake  were  cut  in  great 
wedges  and  passed  around,  and  a  choice  comfiture  of 
wild  cranberries  with  candied  lemon  peel  and  plenty 
of  sugar  was  served  on  little  wooden  trenchers,  carved 
in  the  winter  evenings  by  Samuel  Jenney  as  a  present  to 
his  bride ;  and  there  was  plenty  of  beer  and  cider,  which 
to  our  hardy  sires  were  no  more  injurious  than  cold 
water  to  us,  who  have  bred  nerves  in  place  of  their 


JENNET'S  MILL  BY  MOONLIGHT.         321 

muscles  and  brawn ;  and  there  was  sweet  Spanish  wine 
for  the  ladies,  passed  from  hand  to  hand  in  a  little 
pewter  wine-cup,  burnished  like  silver ;  and  there  was 
a  good  joram  of  punch  for  every  man  ;  and  the  girls 
with  little  gasps  and  chokings  put  their  lips  to  the  edge 
of  the  rummers,  while  Gillian,  nestling  close  to  Wil 
liam  Bradford's  side,  was  gentle  and  quiet  as  a  chidden 
child,  and  spoke  to  none  but  him,  eating  the  while  as  a 
bird  might,  and  no  more,  until  in  his  heart  the  young 
man  felt  that  William  Pabodie  was  after  all  something 
of  a  churl,  and  not  over  courteous  to  the  governor's 
guest,  and  Pabodie  forgetting  them  both  watched  Betty 
Alden,  who  now  and  again  glanced  at  or  spoke  to  him 
just  as  she  did  to  Sam  Jenney  or  John  Howland,  and 
was  the  brightest,  the  merriest,  the  most  winsome  lass 
of  that  gay  circle  of  men  and  maids. 

"  And  now  we  '11  go,  Will,"  whispered  Gillian,  as  all 
rose  from  the  table. 

"  Yes,  poor  little  Jill,  we  '11  go  now,"  replied  Brad 
ford  far  more  tenderly  than  ever  he  had  spoken  before ; 
and  Joseph,  who  heard  it,  turned  sharply,  and  survey" 
ing  his  brother  with  astonishment  whispered,  — 

"  If  there  's  a  score,  need  we  make  it  two-and-twenty, 
Bill  ? " 

"  Gillian  is  tired,  and  I  am  taking  her  home  in  the 
boat,"  answered  William  coldly.  "  Will  you  come  with 
us,  or  on  foot  later  ?  " 

"  Take  care  of  yourself,  man,  and  I  '11  give  as  good 
an  account  of  myself,"  retorted  Joe  a  little  huffed,  and 
presently  the  governor's  boat  glided  down  Town  Brook, 
which  glittered  like  a  stream  of  silver  under  the  full 
moon.  In  the  stern,  her  elbow  on  the  gunwale  and  her 
hand  supporting  a  sorrowful  face  upturned  to  the  sky, 


322  BETTY  ALDEN. 

reclined  Gillian,  a  dusky  red  shawl  half  covering  her 
neck  and  arms,  and  throwing  up  in  startling  relief  the 
exquisitely  molded  hand  and  wrist  lying  palm  uppermost 
upon  her  knee. 

Close  beside  her  aat  Bradford,  silently  dreaming  a 
young  man's  vague  sweet  dreams  of  the  wonder  of 
womanhood,  while  the  Indian  boatman,  erect  and  silent 
as  a  bronze  automaton,  guided  the  boat  down  the  rapid 
stream,  and  far  within  the  dewy  covert  of  the  wood  a 
whippoorwill  made  his  perpetual  moan,  echoed  softly 
back  from  the  breast  of  Dark  Orchard  Hill. 

At  the  mill,  the  after-supper  fun  grew  fast  and  furi 
ous,  and  who  but  Betty  Alden  to  lead  and  queen  it  with 
a  gay  vivacity  of  invention  and  power  of  will  that  made 
itself  felt  by  all  within  its  reach,  while  William  Pabodie, 
his  own  man  once  more  now  that  the  strange  sorcery  of 
Gillian's  presence  was  withdrawn,  calmly  bided  his  time, 
and  at  last,  when  Giles  Hopkins,  over  from  Barnstable 
on  a  visit,  was  trolling  a  sea-song  and  all  the  rest  joining 
in  the  chorus,  he  edged  between  Betty  and  the  girl  next 
to  her,  saying,  — 

"  Come  out  to  the  doorstep,  Betty  ;  I  've  something  to 
say  to  you  before  I  go  home." 

"  Then  say  it  here,  or  leave  it  unsaid,  for  I  've  no 
mind  for  the  doorstep,"  drawled  Betty  with  would-be 
carelessness ;  but  some  instinct  told  the  lover  that  here 
was  a  citadel  whose  half-hearted  garrison  might  be 
taken  by  assault,  and  grasping  her  by  the  arm,  he  moved 
toward  the  door,  exclaiming  half  laughingly,  — 

"  You  must  come,  Betty,  for  else  I  '11  make  such  a 
noise  that  they  '11  all  stop  singing  to  turn  and  look  at 
us." 

"  You  're  overbold,  William  Pabodie,"  replied  Betty 


JENNEY'S  MILL  BY  MOONLIGHT.         323 

icily ;  but  yielding  to  both  force  and  argument  she  al 
lowed  herself  to  be  led  not  only  to  the  doorstep,  but 
down  the  steep  path,  through  the  garden  all  odorous 
with  pinks  and  roses,  to  the  spot  beside  the  pool  where 
still  lay  the  broken  branch  of  lilac,  and  where  upon  the 
old  willow-trunk  still  seemed  to  linger  the  perfume  of 
Gillian's  presence. 

«  Why  do  you  bring  me  here  ?  "  asked  Betty,  a  sob 
rising  in  her  throat,  but  bravely  choked  back  again. 

"  Because  here  where  an  hour  or  two  ago  you  set  me 
down  as  false  and  fickle,  here  have  I  brought  you  to 
hear  me  say  that  I  love  you,  Betty  ;  and,  what  is  more,  I 
never  have  loved  any  woman  but  you,  and  if  I  may  not 
have  you  for  my  wife  I  '11  go  a  bachelor  to  my  grave. 
Betty,  will  you  be  my  wife  ?  " 

"  If  you  've  naught  else  to  recommend  you,  Master 
Pabodie,  none  can  accuse  you  of  want  of  courage,"  re 
plied  Betty  quietly,  and  throwing  aside  the  mask  that 
in  the  last  hours  had  smothered  her  true  feelings,  she 
stood  before  him  pale,  stern,  and  pitiless.  The  young 
fellow  looked  at  her  in  dismay. 

"  Betty  !     Don't  you  believe  me,  Betty  ?  " 

"  Believe  you  when,  or  at  which  time  ?  I  believed  a 
year  or  so  ago  that  you  cared  somewhat  for  me,  at  least 
you  came  as  near  to  saying  it  as  I  would  let  you,  till  I 
could  know  mine  own  mind  "  — 

"  And  then  did  your  mind  turn  to  me,  Betty  ?  "  de 
manded  the  lover  eagerly. 

"  There  was  no  time  for  it  to  turn,  unless  it  had  been 
such  a  weather-cock  as  yours,  for  I  had  not  well  got  to 
thinking  of  the  matter  before  I  saw  that  you  had  forgot 
it,  and  were  running  like  a  well-broke  spaniel  at  Gillian 
Brewster's  heel,  so  I  thought  no  more  on  't,  and  was  just 


324  BETTY  ALDEN. 

as  well  content  it  should  be  so.  And  then  Gillian  went 
away,  and  you,  just  like  our  Neptune  when  father  's  from 
home,  went  questing  round  seeking  a  master,  and  seemed 
willing  to  have  me  for  one;  and  partly  because  you 
plagued  me  so,  I  came  here  to  stay  awhile,  and  then 
when  you  came  to-day,  and  whispered  in  mine  ear  that  it 
was  to  see  me  you  'd  made  the  excuse  to  come,  my  silly 
vanity  believed  the  tale,  and  I  had  well-nigh  been  fool 
enough  to  trust  you,  as  I  would  one  of  my  own  brothers 
who  know  not  how  to  lie ;  but  happily  for  me,  Gillian 
also  came,  and  I  found  you  toying  with  her,  and  giving 
flowers,  and  looking  into  her  eyes,  and  —  oh,  I  know  not 
what  all  —  it  makes  me  sick,  it  does,  and  all  I  want  is 
to  go  mine  own  way,  and  have  you  go  yours,  and  let 
there  be  an  end  of  all  this  folly  here  and  now." 

The  words  were  no  sharper  than  the  voice  was  cold, 
and  the  lover  had  well-nigh  accepted  the  dismissal  and 
turned  away  hopeless  and  humiliated,  but  that  as  he 
looked  gloomily  down,  the  moonlight  glinted  upon  the 
buckle  of  a  little  shoe,  and  he  perceived  that  the  foot 
was  viciously,  if  silently,  grinding  a  blossom  of  the  poor 
lilac  branch  into  the  earth.  Somehow,  he  could  not 
have  told  how,  that  sight  brought  courage  to  the  all 
but  discouraged  heart,  and  suddenly  seizing  both  cold 
and  repellent  hands,  the  young  man  pressed  them  to  his 
breast,  crying,  — 

"  No,  Betty,  no,  and  no  again  !  I  '11  not  believe  you. 
I  '11  not  take  such  an  answer.  I  '11  not  give  you  up,  nor 
turn  to  any  way  that  is  not  your  way  !  Betty,  I  love 
you.  I  never  have  loved  any  but  you.  I  '11  have  you  and 
none  other  for  my  wife.  Betty,  darling,  can't  you  for 
give  a  blind  folly,  a  stupid,  senseless  blunder  ?  I  could 
say  a  good  deal  to  excuse  myself  but  for  the  duty  every 


JENNEY'S  MILL  BY  MOONLIGHT.         325 

man  owes  to  every  woman,  and  that  I  '11  not  forego, 
even  to  defend  myself  to  you  "  — 

"  Oh,  I  know  well  enough  what  she  is,"  murmured 
Betty ;  the  young  man  paused,  but  would  not,  could  not 
speak  the  thoughts  that  arose  in  his  mind.  Perhaps 
Betty  was,  after  all,  not  ill  pleased,  for  let  men  say  what 
they  will  of  the  jealousies  of  women,  there  is  among 
them  an  esprit  de  corps  that  rises  indignantly  in  every 
true  woman's  breast  when  she  hears  her  own  sex  or  any 
member  of  it  scorned  by  man. 

So  an  abrupt  silence  fell  between  the  two,  —  an  elo 
quent  silence,  for  as  his  hands  firmly  grasped  hers,  and 
the  strong  throbbing  of  his  pulses  vibrated  along  her 
nerves,  there  was  no  need  of  words,  until  after  a  few 
wonderful  moments,  moments  that  life  could  never  re 
peat,  the  young  man  drew  his  true  love  close,  close  to 
his  heart,  and  their  lips  met  in  a  betrothal  kiss. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

ROBED  IN  WHITE  SAMITE. 

THERE  was  company  at  the  captain's  house,  the 
same  dear  friends  whom  we  have  seen  witli  him  on  so 
many  joyous  occasions,  the  Aldens,  the  Rowlands,  the 
Brewsters,  the  Pabodies  and  Hatherleys,  and  Cud- 
worths  ;  and  from  Plymouth,  the  governor  and  his  wife, 
the  Hopkinses,  and  other  of  the  captain's  friends  and 
associates  of  the  old  time  now  so  long  gone  by,  and  yet 
so  powerful  in  the  ties  then  formed.  Parson  Rayner 
was  there,  too,  and  Ralph  Partridge,  but  it  was  as 
friends  and  neighbors  that  they  came,  and  the  only  offi 
cial  word  the  minister  of  Duxbury  uttered  was  when  he 
wrung  the  captain's  hand  and  said,  "  '  Be  strong  and  of 
a  good  courage,'  my  friend,"  and  Standish,  lifting  sombre 
eyes  to  the  speaker's  face,  answered  him  never  a  word. 

And  in  the  midst  lay  Lora,  very  pale  and  still,  with  the 
golden  lashes  folded  close  upon  the  cheek  hardly  whiter 
now  than  it  had  always  been,  and  the  faint  rose  tint  lin 
gering  in  the  lips  just  touched  with  that  mysterious  smile 
that  seems  the  trace  of  a  joy  so  divine,  so  all  powerful, 
that  it  bursts  even  the  icy  fetters  of  death,  and  insists 
upon  revealing  itself,  if  ever  so  dimly,  for  the  assurance 
of  those  who  must  see  before  they  can  believe.  The 
pale  golden  hair  that  was  the  mother's  pride  and  boast 
was  released  from  all  bands,  and  lay  a  shining  and  rip 
pling  mantle  at  either  side  of  the  slender  figure  which  at 


ROBED  IN    WHITE  SAMITE.  327 

her  father's  desire  was  clothed  in  the  robe  of  white 
samite  he  had  brought  her  from  over  seas,  saying  in  his 
pride  that  thus  the  mistress  of  his  ancestral  home  should 
be  clothed.  And  now  !  Alas,  poor  father  !  it  clothed 
her  for  her  nuptials  indeed,  but  she  must  cross  a  darker 
sea  than  the  Atlantic  to  enter  into  her  kingdom.  The 
delicate  hands  lay  folded  upon  the  breast,  and  beneath 
them  some  snowdrops  that  Betty  Pabodie  had  nurtured, 
watering  them  with  her  tears  and  foreseeing  this  day,  of 
which  indeed  Lora  had  calmly  and  cheerfully  spoken 
more  than  once. 

"  Put  on  her  shoes,  and  fold  the  train  of  her  robe 
around  her  feet,"  commanded  the  father.  "  She  said  it 
should  be  so."  And  wonderingly  the  mother  obeyed, 
for  in  these  awful  hours  none  dared  to  intrude  upon  the 
darkness  that  clothed  Standish  more  gloomily  than  the 
mantle  the  Angel  of  Death  had  lightly  laid  around  the 
maiden. 

Once  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  Barbara,  rising  from 
her  sleepless  couch,  sought  him  where  he  sat  alone  with 
Lora,  and  throwing  herself  upon  her  knees  beside  him, 
her  arms  around  him,  and  her  head  upon  his  breast,  she 
cried,  — 

"  Oh,  Myles,  Myles,  let  us  try  to  bear  it  together.  Do 
not  shut  me  out  of  your  heart.  Oh,  Myles,  my  heart  is 
breaking  —  comfort  me  !  " 

"  Hush,  wife,  hush  !  What  need  of  words  or  clamor  ? 
Let  her  rest,  let  her  rest  —  and  leave  us  alone,  good 
wife,  my  maid  and  me  —  go !  " 

Th3n  chilled,  silenced,  well-nigh  affrighted,  the  mother 
crept  away,  and  left  the  defeated  soldier  to  his  own  bit 
ter  retrospect. 

The  brothers,  working  day  and  night,  fashioned  an 


328  BETTY  ALDEN. 

oaken  casket,  not  of  the  gruesome  shape  in  use  at  a  later 
date,  but  more  like  a  dainty  cradle,  and  the  women  had 
spread  in  it  a  couch  of  sweet  herbs  and  the  fragrant  tips 
of  the  balsam  fir  and  the  blossoms  of  the  immortelle 
which  they  called  life-everlasting.  A  pillow  of  dried  rose- 
leaves  and  lavender-blossoms  and  the  hop-flowers  that 
soothe  to  dreamless  slumber  was  laid  ready  for  the  gentle 
head,  and  a  sheet  of  fine  linen  was  spread  over  all. 

"  The  captain  said  when  he  brought  home  that  bolt  of 
Hollands  linen  from  Antwerp,  that  it  was  for  Lora's 
wedding  clothes,"  sobbed  Barbara,  as  she  drew  the  shin 
ing  folds  from  the  chest  that  held  her  most  valued  house 
hold  treasures,  and  Priscilla  Alden,  with  an  arm  around 
her  friend's  neck,  kissed  her,  and  bit  her  tongue  lest  it 
should  say  in  spite  of  her,  "  Had  he  let  her  marry  Wres 
tling  Brewster,  she  might  have  needed  wedding  clothes 
of  another  sort  from  these." 

And  now  all  have  looked  their  last,  and  the  mother's 
tears  have  dropped  thick  and  fast  upon  those  eyes  that 
will  weep  no  more,  and  the  father,  silent,  stern,  and  tear 
less,  has  laid  a  hand  upon  that  golden  hair  that  no 
longer  twines  around  his  fingers,  and  Betty  has  gently 
drawn  one  of  the  snowdrops  from  between  those  re 
sistless  fingers,  a  snowdrop  that  she  will  press  in  her 
Bible  over  the  words  "  for  of  such  are  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  the  cover  is  laid  gently  over  that  fragrant 
cradle,  and  the  brothers,  with  the  Alden  sons  who  have 
been  Lora's  playmates  and  dear  friends,  place  it  upon 
the  bier  and  carry  it  along  the  field  path  her  light  feet 
have  so  often  trod,  past  the  Brewster  homestead,  where 
now  only  Love  and  his  family  remained,  and  so  on  to 
what  to-day  we  call  Harden  Hill ;  here  around  the 
little  church  already  outgrown,  and  soon  to  be  super- 


EOBED  IN    WHITE  SAMITE.  329 

seded,  the  graves  of  some  of  those  who  thus  far  had 
passed  away  were  made ;  others,  indeed,  had  directed 
that  their  remains  should  rest  upon  Burying  Hill  in 
Plymouth,  and  some  would  lie  within  the  radius  of 
light  from  their  own  hearthstones ;  but  a  few  were  here, 
and  the  captain  with  his  own  hands  marked  out  the  spot 
where  Lora  had  fallen  on  that  night  when  she  knew, 
months  before  the  news  came  over  seas,  that  Wrestling 
Brewster  was  dead.  There  they  laid  her,  softly,  gently, 
as  still  we  lay  down  the  loved  ones  whom  rudest  touch 
could  not  harm,  or  crash  of  thunders  disturb,  and  her 
own  kinsmen  did  the  rest.  A  little  heap  of  turfs  was 
piled  near,  and  as  the  others  turned  away  Alexander  and 
Josiah  began  to  lay  them  ;  but  Hobomok,  the  faithful 
friend  and  long-time  servitor  of  Standish,  laid  a  finger 
upon  Alick's  arm,  saying  in  his  guttural  voice,  — 

44  Hobomok  do  something  for  the  Moonlight-on-the- 
water.  Hobomok  put  the  green  cover  over  her." 

"  He 's  right,  Alick,"  said  Josiah,  with  a  friendly 
glance  at  the  old  Indian.  "  He  's  all  but  worshiped 
Lora  ever  since  she  was  born.  Let  him  lay  the  turf." 

"  We  could  n't  better  show  our  friendship  for  you, 
Hobomok." 

"Hob  know  all  about  it,"  replied  the  red  man  senten- 
tiously,  and  the  brothers  followed  the  long  line  of  friends 
who  scattered  along  the  road  toward  their  different 
homes. 

Standish  walked  silently  beside  his  wife  until  nearly 
at  his  own  door  he  stopped,  looking  frowningly  out  across 
the  sea,  his  teeth  set  hard  upon  his  nether  lip,  as  if 
fighting  out  some  problem  in  his  own  mind  ;  then  falling 
back,  he  touched  William  Bradford  upon  the  arm,  and 
drew  him  a  little  aside. 


330  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Send  home  the  rest  with  your  sons,  Bradford,  and 
stay  here  to-night." 

"  My  good  friend,  many  occasions  call  me  to  Ply 
mouth  "  — 

"No  occasion  greater  than  the  choice  of  life  and 
death ;  nay,  if  all  they  say  be  true,  the  choice  of  salva 
tion  or  damnation,  —  nothing  weightier  than  such  a 
choice,  is  there,  Will  ?  " 

"  What  ails  you,  old  friend  ?  Your  grief  has  —  has 
made  you  ill !  " 

And  the  governor,  grasping  his  friend's  arm,  looked 
apprehensively  at  the  deep  color  that  suddenly  had  over 
spread  the  pallor  of  his  face,  and  at  the  fierce  light  that 
some  thought  had  kindled  in  the  gloomy  depths  of  his 
eyes,  hollow  and  strained  by  vigils  and  unshed  tears. 

"  Tush,  man  !  I  'm  not  gone  mad.  I  'm  not  such  a 
weakling  as  to  let  any  grief  master  the  man  in  me.  It 's 
only  that  I  'm  in  a  strait  between  God  and  the  Enemy, 
and  there  's  no  man  alive  I  'd  choose  for  umpire  but 
you." 

"  If  you  need  me,  Myles,  I  'm  with  you,  whatever  else 
betide." 

And  the  two  men  grasped  hands  and  looked  into  each 
other's  eyes.  Then  with  a  voice  more  moved  than  any 
had  heard  from  him  in  three  days  Standish  said,  "  I 
thought  I  could  count  upon  your  kindness,  Will,  if  you 
knew  my  need.  Let  all  the  rest  go,  and  when  darkness 
has  fallen,  we  two  will  come  back  to  my  little  maid's 
grave,  and  I  '11  tell  you  there." 

And  so  it  was.  The  funeral  feast,  almost  a  necessity 
where  so  many  came  from  far,  was  served  and  eaten 
nearly  in  silence,  and  then  the  guests  departed,  Dame 
Bradford  under  charge  of  her  two  sons,  and  tenderly 


BOB  ED  IN   WHITE  SAMITE.  331 

served  by  Gillian,  whose  volatile  spirit  was  quenched 
in  the  abundant  tears  that  meant  so  little  from  her  eyes. 

Night  had  fallen,  and  the  waning  moon  was  shining 
mournfully  over  the  waters,  when  at  a  signal  from  his 
host  Bradford  followed  him  into  the  open  air  and,  with 
a  word  or  two,  along  the  path  the  funeral  procession  had 
just  trodden. 

The  young  birch  was  in  leaf,  and  a  little  west  wind 
rustled  and  sighed  among  its  branches,  casting  flick 
ering  shadows  across  the  new-turfed  mound,  lined  from 
west  to  east  that  the  sleeper,  obedient  to  the  great  call, 
might  in  upstanding  face  the  rising  of  the  Sun  of  Right 
eousness. 

"Sit  you  down,  Bradford.  There's  a  rock  she's 
often  rested  on.  Don't  speak  until  I  gather  my  thoughts 
and  know  what  't  is  I  mean  to  say." 

Without  reply  Bradford,  drawing  his  cloak  around 
him,  for  the  spring  night  was  chill,  sat  down  upon  the 
boulder,  where  indeed  Lora  had  dreamed  away  many 
an  hour,  gazing  across  the  sea  that  ever  drew  her  with 
its  vague,  sad  calling,  and  waited  silently  while  Stan- 
dish,  with  folded  arms  and  head  bent  upon  his  breast, 
paced  up  and  down,  up  and  down,  now  standing  upon 
the  crumbling  edge  of  the  cliff  near  at  hand,  now  pa 
cing  back  to  the  little  church  a  bow-shot  from  the  shore. 

At  last,  with  sudden  and  hurried  footsteps,  as  though 
fearing  to  linger  over  his  decision,  the  soldier  drew  near, 
holding  a  folded  paper  in  his  hand,  and  exclaimed,  — 

"  Bradford  !  You  too  have  an  only  daughter.  If  a 
man  insulted  her  bitterly,  bitterly,  what  would  you  do  to 
him  ?  " 

"  Insulted  her  ?     How?" 

"  No  matter  how.     What  would  you  do  to  him  ?  " 


332  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  It  is  not  fair  to  ask  me  such  a  question  in  such  a 
way,  Myles,  if  you  mean  to  find  an  augury  for  your  own 
course  in  my  reply.  I  cannot  tell  what  I  should  d;) 
until  I  know  all,  and  mayhap  not  then.  But  surely  r.o 
man  ever  offered  insult  to  the  sweet  maid  who  's  gone  ?  " 

"  'T  is  all  you  know  about  it.  Well,  here  's  the  story. 
When  I  was  in  England  almost  a  score  of  years  ago,  I 
went  to  Standish  Hah1  to  talk  with  my  kinsman  now  in 
authority  there,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  do  me  the 
justice  his  father  denied  to  my  father.  He  seemed  a 
kindly  man  enough,  or  mayhap  't  was  only  that  he  was 
a  smooth  courtier,  and  cozened  easily  enough  a  rough 
soldier  who  has  never  learned  to  lie.  At  all  odds,  it 
ended  in  our  making  a  solemn  compact,  that  if  the  child 
my  wife  then  looked  for  should  be  a  girl,  she  was  to  be 
come  the  wife  of  that  man's  son,  then  a  child  of  two  or 
three  years  old,  and  all  that  ought  by  right  to  have  been 
mine  should  be  settled  upon  her  and  her  younger  chil 
dren.  We  did  not  set  it  down  on  parchment,  nor  call 
witnesses  to  our  oaths ;  but  we  grasped  hands  upon  it, 
and  passed  our  word  each  to  each  as  honest  gentlemen, 
and  there  it  rested.  When  I  was  in  England  ten  years  or 
so  ago,  I  traveled  down  to  Eton  to  see  the  boy,  and  give 
him  a  little  compliment,  small  enough  for  the  heir  of 
Standish  Hall,  but  large  enough  for  my  own  pocket.  I 
said  naught  to  him  about  Lora,  of  course,  though  I  let 
him  know  that  I  felt  more  than  a  kinsman's  interest  in 
him,  arid  he  seemed  a  brave  lad,  a  trifle  set  up,  but  I 
could  pardon  that.  Well,  the  time  went  on,  and  there 
was  some  talk  of  Wrestling  Brewster  and  my  girl.  I 
dealt  with  that  as  seemed  good  to  me,  and  then  I  wrote 
to  my  kinsman,  and  said  the  time  had  come  to  con 
sider  our  contract,  and  that  my  girl  was  woman  grown 


ROBED  IN  WHITE  SAMITE.  333 

and  his  boy  must  be  one  and  twenty,  and  I  asked  how 
and  where  we  should  meet  to  give  them  to  each  other. 
Almost  a  year  weiit  by,  and  my  blood  already  began  to 
stir  at  the  delay,  although  I  schooled  myself  to  believe 
it  no  slight,  when  at  the  last  a  letter  came,  this  letter. 
Wait  till  I  read  it  out,  for  though  there  's  no  light,  I 
can  see  every  word  as  if  't  were  printed  off  on  mine 
own  eyeballs.  First  a  flummery  of  '  dear  kinsman  '  and 
the  like  vapid  compliment,  and  then  :  — 

"  'As  touching  what  you  call  the  contract  of  marriage 
between  our  children,  I  confess  I  had  all  but  forgot  that 
we  two  did  hold  some  such  discourse  a  matter  of  eigh 
teen  years  ago ;  but  what  will  you,  cousin  ?  These  young 
folk  must  still  take  their  own  way,  and  my  son  before 
reaching  his  majority  had  set  his  fancy  upon  a  young 
gentlewoman,  one  of  the  great  Howard  family,  and  with 
a  very  pretty  estate  tacked  to  her  petticoat,  marching 
well  with  our  lands  of  Boisconge.  So  they  were  be 
trothed  some  months  ago  and  will  be  married  come 
Whitsuntide.  Hoping  the  fair  and  worthy  Mistress 
Lora,  whose  name  so  pleasantly  recalls  our  family  tree, 
will  soon  marry  to  please  you  as  well  as  herself,  I  re 
main,'  et  cetera,  et  cetera. 

"  There,  now,  William  Bradford,  what  would  you  have 
done  to  the  man  who  so  scorned  your  Mercy  ?  " 

"  My  faith,  Stand ish  !  "  cried  the  governor,  springing  to 
his  feet,  "  I  cannot  blame  your  anger,  for  't  is  righteous. 
Your  cousin  is  but  a  knave  in  spite  of  his  fair  words  "  — 

"  And  what  would  you  have  done  with  him,  had  you 
been  in  my  place  ?  "  persisted  Standish  coldly. 

"  Nay,  what  could  be  done  ? "  faltered  Bradford  so 
lamely  that  Standish  uttered  a  little  bitter  laugh  of  de 
rision. 


334  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  There  you  see  !  You  Ve  studied  Christian  charity 
so  long  that  you  will  not  say  Kill  him !  and  your  man 
hood  will  not  let  you  say  Forgive  him  !  and  you  can  find 
no  middle  way. 

"  But  I,  thank  God,  am  not  so  hampered ;  and  as  I 
finished  reading  that  letter  my  fist  clenched  on  old  Gid 
eon's  hilt,  and  I  promised  him  that  he  should  carry  con 
viction  to  that  false,  proud  heart.  I  would  have  gone 
at  once,  but  I  saw  that  my  little  maid  was  grievously  ill, 
and  I  could  not  leave  her ;  then  I  saw  that  she  would 
die,  and  one  day  I  drew  Gideon  from  his  scabbard  and 
thrust  his  sharp  tooth  through  that  cartel, — see,  here  are 
the  marks  of  him,  —  and  I  bade  him  hold  fast  till  we 
could  wet  that  paper  in  the  red  ink  of  my  reply  " —  But 
here  the  governor  interrupted  him,  — 

"  Myles !  Man  has  no  right  to  predetermine  ven 
geance.  In  the  heat  of  affront  I  too  might  have  longed 
to  combat  to  the  death  with  one  who  had  so  lightlied  my 
child,  but  I  never  could  have  stored  up  death  for  him 
like  that." 

44  You  were  bred  to  the  land  and  to  books,  Bradford, 
and  I  to  arms,"  replied  the  soldier  haughtily ;  and  then 
in  sudden  revulsion  of  feeling,  he  grasped  his  friend's 
hand,  saying  hoarsely,  "  I  never  can  be  the  man  you  are, 
Will,  and  you  better  deserved  than  I  to  have  had  that 
saint  for  a  daughter.  But  come,  now,  I  must  e'en  tell 
you  the  whole,  as  if  't  were  to  a  father  confessor,  and,  by 
my  faith,  I  wish  you  were  one,  for  the  old  practice  rises 
up  in  a  man's  mind  when  trouble  comes.  But  there  !  I 
won't  rake  up  old  disputes,  but  rather  on  with  my  shrift : 
I  was  fully  purposed,  then,  so  soon  as  my  sweet  maid 
was  gone,  to  travel  to  England  and  seeking  out  Ralph 
Standish  challenge  him  to  mortal  combat,  and  to  thrust 


ROBED  IN   WHITE  SAMITE.  335 

my  brave  old  sword  with  that  letter  spitted  upon  its  blade 
through  his  false  heart  and  so  avenge  my  girl.  I  was  as 
fully  purposed  that  way  as  ever  I  was  to  eat  when  I  was 
hungry  and  saw  victual  before  me,  and  I  'm  not  more  apt 
to  change  my  purpose  than  a  mastiff  is  to  lose  his  grip. 

"  The  night  she  died  I  went  down  by  the  edge  of  the 
water  and  tramped  along  the  beach  the  night  through, 
yearning  to  throw  myself  in  and  get  to  him.  I  was  half 
mad,  I  think,  and  could  I  have  reached  that  black  heart 
then,  I  fear  I  should  have  shamed  my  manhood  by  not 
leaving  the  villain  time  to  defend  himself.  The  next 
night,  that  is,  last  night,  I  was  calmer,  for  as  I  had 
not  slept  nor  eaten,  I  was  not  so  full  of  lustyhood,  and 
sending  the  others  away,  I  sat  by  my  darling  the  night 
through,  alone,  save  when  the  poor  wife  came  and  I 
would  not  let  her  stay.  Poor  Barbara !  I  've  not  re 
membered  her  grief  as  I  should  ;  but  mine  swallowed  up 
all  else,  because  it  was  so  much  bigger  and  stronger  than 
all  else.  So  sitting  by  her,  and  reading  that  gentle, 
subtle  smile  that  mayhap  you  marked  upon  her  pretty 
mouth  —  How  can  I  tell  you,  Will  ?  Didst  ever  grasp 
a  handful  of  sea  sand  and  try  to  hold  it  fast  ?  " 

"  Ay,  and  felt  it  slip,  grain  by  grain,  between  my  fin 
gers." 

"  Yes.  You  catch  my  meaning,  as  I  knew  you  would. 
Even  like  those  grains  of  sand,  my  fierce  desire  for  that 
man's  life  slipped  and  slipped  away,  and  what  I  had 
deemed  a  noble  vengeance  grew  to  seem  only  a  brutal 
thirst  for  blood,  and  the  thought  of  him  and  of  his  of 
fense  seemed  to  fade  into  the  forgotten  years  whose 
record  is  closed.  Perhaps  I  slept,  perhaps  I  dreamed 
without  sleeping,  but  all  at  once  it  seemed  to  me  that 
my  maid  stood  beside  me,  close,  and  yet  so  far  away  I 


336  BETTY  ALDEN. 

dared  not  put  out  a  hand  to  touch  her  ;  and  that  smile 
was  on  her  lips,  and  someway  it  seemed  to  speak  its 
meaning  without  words,  and  the  meaning  was,  *  To  him 
that  overcometh '  —  That  was  all,  and  yet,  something, 
—  that  dear  spirit  or  mine  own  heart,  or  my  memory  of 
that  Book  she  ever  made  me  read  to  her  all  through  the 
last  year,  —  something  told  me  that  it  was  to  him  that 
overcometh  his  own  self,  to  him  who  can  trust  his 
vengeance  to  the  Lord  and  forego  it  for  himself,  —  to 
such  an  one  that  the  path  lies  open  to  the  place  where 
Lora  has  gone ;  hut  to  the  man  of  bloodshed  and  heady 
violence  that  path  is  no  more  to-  be  traced  than  a  high 
way  through  this  wilderness. 

"  But  when  the  daylight  came,  and  I  had  eaten  and 
slept,  I  began  to  think  't  was  all  a  fantasy  bred  of  long 
watching  and  fasting,  and  that  my  first  thought  was  the 
best,  and  even  I  fancied  that  I  was  growing  old  and  my 
hardihood  was  on  the  wane,  and  the  cold  apathy  of  age 
was  what  held  my  hand  ;  and  so,  tossed  this  way  and 
that,  and  sore  bestead  with  doubt  and  anguish,  I  turned 
to  some  other  for  calmer  counsel  and  a  juster  view.  In 
the  old  days  I  would  have  sought  a  priest,  but  now  I 
turn  to  you,  Will ;  give  me  your  counsel,  —  tell  me 
where  is  my  right." 

Throwing  himself  upon  the  ground,  the  soldier  hid 
his  face  upon  the  fresh  green  mound  and  lay  exhausted 
and  passive.  His  friend  stood  many  moments  motion 
less,  his  eyes  uplifted  to  the  sky,  where  the  little  white 
clouds  flying  across  the  face  of  the  waning  moon  gave 
her  a  look  of  hurry  and  perturbation,  as  if  she  too  were 
sore  beset  by  the  doubts  and  temptations  of  the  earthly 
atmosphere.  At  last  he  slowly  spoke  :  — 

"  Old  friend,  I  am  no  better  or  wiser  man  than  you, 


ROBED  IN   WHITE  SAMITE.  337 

and  I  can  only  speak  as  a  fallible  sinner  may  to  one  for 
whose  welfare  he  yearns  as  for  his  own.  It  seems  to 
me  that  God  has  already  answered  you  through  that 
dear  child  who  has  gone  to  Him.  '  Vengeance  is  mine  ; 
I  will  repay,'  saith  He,  and  the  promise  to  him  that 
overcometh  is  as  precious  and  as  many-sided  as  *  the 
white  stone  that  he  shall  receive,  and  which  commenta 
tors  hold  to  mean  the  diamond  "  — 

"  Enough,  enough,  man !  "  cried  Standish,  starting  to 
his  feet.  "  I  cannot  listen  to  so  many  words.  I  care 
naught  for  commentators  or  texts.  Tell  me  as  man  to 
man,  may  I  go  and  kill  mine  enemy  or  no  !  " 

"  Well,  then,  no  !  You  shall  here  and  now  kneel 
down  and  lay  your  revenge  at  the  foot  of  Christ's  cross 
and  leave  it  there.  Man  !  Has  your  enemy  hurt  you 
more  than  those  who  drove  the  spikes  through  his 
hands  and  feet,  what  time  He  prayed  '  Father,  forgive 
them  ;  they  know  not  what  they  do  '  ?  and  bethink  you 
how  easy  vengeance  would  have  been  to  Him." 

"  Ay.  Knew  not  what  they  did  !  "  muttered  Standish. 
"  Knowing  it  or  not,  that  man  slew  my  child,  for  had  it 
not  been  for  the  contract,  I  would  have  let  her  marry 
Brewster,  and  she  might  have  been  to-day  a  happy  wife 
and  mother." 

"  And  if  you  will  reckon  in  that  fashion,"  replied 
Bradford  sternly,  "  it  was  surely  you  who  slew  Wrestling 
Brewster,  since  it  was  because  he  might  not  have  Lora 
that  he  went  to  England  and  found  his  death.  Should 
not  God  and  our  dear  Elder  have  required  his  blood  at 
your  hand  ?  " 

A  great  silence  was  the  only  answer,  and  presently 
Bradford  spoke  again,  and  now  in  the  tone  of  assured 
conviction  and  well-grounded  authority  that  in  some 


338  BETTY  ALDEN. 

moods  the  human  soul  yearns  to  hear,  especially  an  ar 
dent,  impetuous,  and  loving  soul  like  that  of  Standish  ; 
a  nature  that,  while  the  impulse  lasts,  will  dare  heaven 
and  hell  and  earth  to  achieve  its  purposes,  and  when  the 
revulsion  comes  distrusts  all  that  is  within,  and  turns 
like  a  drowning  man  to  some  external  authority.  Such 
a  man  makes  a  good  soldier,  for  as  he  says,  "  Go  here, 
and  go  there  !  "  to  those  beneath  him,  he  is  ready  to 
add,  "  For  I  also  am  a  man  under  authority." 

And  in  this  need,  characterizing  some  of  the  strongest 
souls  that  animate  humanity,  masculine  and  feminine, 
lies  the  yearning  for  confession  and  guidance,  absolution 
and  penance,  that  has  for  centuries  been  the  strongest 
weapon  in  the  hand  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

"  No,  my  friend,  you  shall  not  cany  this  controversy 
away  from  this  spot.  It  is  Satan  who  buffets  you  so 
sorely,  and  if  you  will  fight,  it  is  with  him  the  combat 
shall  be.  Which  is  the  stronger,  you,  or  that  great 
dragon,  that  old  serpent,  whom  Michael,  of  old,  fought 
and  conquered  ?  Fight  him  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
and  with  Gideon  if  you  will,  but  here  and  now  relinquish 
all,  yes,  every  iota  of  the  desire  for  your  brother's  blood. 
Destroy  that  letter,  —  yes,  tear  it  in  pieces  here  beside 
Lora's  grave,  and  bury  the  remembrance  of  it  as  you 
have  buried  her.  You  have  left  it  to  me,  Myles,  and  I 
have  been  given  this  to  say  to  you.  Take  it,  in  the  name 
of  God  who  hears  us." 

"  I  take  it  as  I  took  her  message,"  replied  Standish 
in  a  low  voice,  and  rising  to  his  knees,  for  he  had  been 
lying  prone  beside  the  grave,  he  sought  about  for  a  mo 
ment,  and  finding  a  bit  of  stick  began  carefully  to  re 
move  one  of  the  turfs  at  the  foot  of  the  new-made 
grave.  Laying  it  at  one  side,  he  took  the  letter  from 


ROBED  IN   WHITE  SAMITE.  339 

under  his  knee,  where  he  had  held  it,  and  quietly  tore  it 
into  fragments,  which  he  held  in  his  left  hand,  while 
with  the  right  he  scooped  a  hollow  in  the  loose  loam  be 
neath  the  sod ;  but  in  deepening  the  cavity  his  fingers 
encountered  some  foreign  substance,  and  drawing  it  out, 
held  up  to  the  moonlight  a  little  package  enveloped  in  a 
strip  of  the  cloth-like  inner  bark  of  the  birch-tree,  and 
bound  around  with  cord  twisted  of  fibres  of  the  hack 
matack. 

"  Some  of  Hobomok's  work,"  murmured  Standish, 
carefully  unrolling  the  bark,  and  disclosing  a  curiously 
shaped  and  much  worn  stone  of  a  peculiarly  hard  and 
dense  quality,  fashioned  at  one  end  into  a  neck  by 
which  it  could  be  securely  carried,  and  at  the  other 
sharpened  to  a  curved  edge  capable  of  cutting  wood. 

"  Why,  't  is  Hobomok's  totem  !  "  exclaimed  Standish, 
turning  it  over  and  over.  "  He  always  wore  it  about 
his  neck,  and  for  all  he  calls  himself  a  praying  Indian, 
I  sorely  mistrusted  he  prayed  as  much  to  his  totem  as 
to  any  other  god,  nor  would  he  ever  let  us  see  him  use 
it,  or  take  it  in  our  hands,  though  the  boys  have  urged 
him  more  than  enough.  The  dear  maid  used  to  talk  to 
him  in  her  gentle  way,  and  try  to  make  a  good  Christian 
of  him,  just  as  she  used  to  set  up  her  dolls  and  play  go 
to  meeting  with  them,  and  with  as  great  results.  But 
now,  —  did  he  bury  it  here  for  a  charm  to  keep  away 
the  afrits,  or  did  he  lay  it  at  her  feet  to  show  that  in 
her  sweet  patience  of  death  she  had  conquered  his  un 
belief  even  as  she  conquered  that  other  savage,  her 
father?" 

"  Ask  him,"  suggested  Bradford,  but  Standish,  care 
fully  replacing  the  totem  in  its  covering,  shook  his  head. 

"  No,  no  !     Hobomok  is  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to 


340  BETTY  ALDEN. 

pry  into  what  is  not  meant  for  him  to  know,  and  I 
should  be  ashamed  to  let  him  know  that  I  had  surprised 
what  he  fain  would  have  held  a  secret. 

"  No,  I  '11  lay  the  letter  in  first,  and  then  the  totem  to 
keep  it  down,  and  my  little  maid  will  understand  all  that 
is  meant  by  the  one  and  the  other.  There  !  And  now, 
friend,  I  thank  you.  We  're  growing  old  men,  Will  ; 
'  it  is  toward  evening,  and  the  day  is  far  spent/  but  this 
night's  work  will  stand  both  for  you  and  for  me  when 
all  else  fails.  Come,  let  us  be  going." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

A  BOLD  BUCCANEER. 

"  IT  's  an  ill  wind,  they  say,  that  blows  nobody  good, 
and  I  believe  this  is  that  same  wind." 

"  Tut,  tut,  man  !  'T  is  ill  luck  speaking  against  the 
wind.  Wot  you  not  who  is  the  Prince  of  the  Power  of 
the  Air  ?  " 

"  Sathanas  ;  and  I  verily  believe  he 's  in  this  smoky 
chimney." 

"  Well,  then,  Jacob  Cooke,  get  you  outside  the  house, 
and  if  Jack  Jenney  's  afeard  of  the  one  he  says  makes 
it  smoke,  he  'd  as  well  go  out  with  you." 

"  Thank  you  for  nothing,  Dame  Damaris,"  retorted 
John  Jenney,  laughing  as  he  rose  to  his  feet.  "  I  did  n't 
look  to  be  turned  out  of  the  house  when  I  came  to  make 
a  wedding  visit,  but  mayhap  't  is  so  new  to  you  to  have 
a  house  that  you  have  n't  welly  learned  to  govern  it." 

"  That 's  the  truth,  Jack,"  interposed  the  master  of 
the  house,  a  little  mortified ;  "  so  we  '11  e'en  leave  the 
shrewish  dame  to  her  own  devices,  and  go  out  to  find  a 
warm  corner  beside  a  chimney  that  does  n't  smoke,  and 
a  woman  that  does  n't  scold." 

"  Go  your  ways.  Your  room  is  aye  better  than  your 
company,"  responded  the  comely  dame,  whom  as  Da 
maris  Hopkins  we  saw  a  baby  on  board  the  Mayflower, 
and  who,  lately  married  to  the  son  of  Francis  Cooke, 
was  one  of  the  most  stirring  young  matrons  of  the  town. 


342  BETTY  ALDEN. 

The  two  men,  laughing,  and  yet  a  little  reluctant  to 
turn  out  into  the  shrewd  east  wind,  paused  outside  the 
house.  This  new  home,  built  upon  land  inherited  by 
Damaris  from  her  father,  Stephen  Hopkins,  was  on  the 
westerly  edge  of  Training  Green,  and  thus  high  enough 
to  catch  the  full  force  of  the  wind  rising  steadily  since 
noon. 

"  Phew  !  "  whistled  Jenney,  dragging  his  hat  over  his 
brows,  "  't  is  enough  to  take  the  curl  out  of  a  pig's  tail. 
There  '11  be  some  wracks  along  the  coast,  if  this  holds 
all  night." 

"  Come  up  the  hill  to  the  Fort,  and  ask  Livetenant 
Holmes  to  give  us  a  squint  through  the  spy-glass." 

"  I  'm  with  you.  But  Holmes  is  n't  half  the  good 
fellow  the  captain  was.  The  Fort  don't  seem  the  same 
place." 

"  No.  And  yet  the  captain  could  give  a  rough  lick 
with  his  tongue,  if  one  angered  him." 

"Yes.  You,  and  Bart  Allerton,  and  Peregrine 
White,  and  Giles  Hopkins  used  to  catch  it  once  in  a 
while  when  you  meddled  or  made  with  the  guns." 

"  Yes,  and  when  he  trained  us  in  the  manual  exercise. 
But  we  're  all  beholden  to  him  for  knowing  how  to 
manage  a  piece  man-fashion." 

"  Ay,  we  're  all  beholden  to  him,  and  sorry  am  I  he  's 
gone  from  the  town,  and  they  say  is  breaking  in  health 
and  spirit." 

"  Since  father  went  it  seems  as  if  the  old  settlers  were 
passing  away  and  we  youngsters  are  to  hold  the  helm." 
And  Jacob  sighed  in  a  gruffly  sentimental  sort  of  fashion. 

"  You  're  right,  Cooke,  and  I  sore  mistrust  our  fathers' 
chairs  will  prove  too  wide  for  us.  I  know  mine  is,  and 
often  enough  I  wish  the  old  man  back." 


A  BOLD  BUCCANEER.  343 

"  Ha !  That  was  a  shrewd  twist  of  the  wind  !  It 
seemed  to  snatch  my  breath.  Well,  here  we  are."  And 
raising  the  heavy  iron  latch,  the  two  men  precipitated 
themselves  into  the  great  lower  room  of  the  Fort,  where 
once  we  saw  the  Pilgrims  hold  their  fast  when  drought 
and  famine  were  sore  upon  them,  and  once  we  assisted 
at  the  trial  of  John  Oldhame. 

The  religious  services  of  the  town  were  still  held  in 
this  place,  although  it  had  long  been  Pastor  Rayner's 
urgent  appeal  to  the  people  that  they  should  build  a 
suitable  meeting-house  for  the  worship  of  God,  and  no 
longer  mingle  ecclesiastical  and  secular  pursuits  in  the 
same  building.  But  since  the  removal  of  some  of  the 
colony's  wealthiest  and  most  influential  townsmen  to 
Duxbury,  Scituate,  Marshfield,  and  the  Cape  towns, 
poor  Plymouth  had  become  so  destitute  that  her  sons 
could  barely  provide  food  for  the  body,  and  had  little 
money  or  energy  to  spare  in  suitably  serving  the  soul's 
aliment. 

And  now  help  was  to  come,  and  from  a  most  unex 
pected  source. 

Upon  the  platform  at  the  top  of  the  Fort  the  two 
visitors  found  Lieutenant  Holmes,  sheltered  from  the 
wind  behind  a  sentry-box,  and  absorbed  in  the  use  of 
the  spy-glass  they  had  come  to  seek. 

"  Well,  and  what  do  you  see,  Livetenant  ?  "  demanded 
Cooke,  ever  ready  with  his  tongue.  The  soldier,  who 
after  the  manner  of  most  men  when  absorbed  in  the  use 
of  one  sense  was  slow  to  occupy  himself  with  another 
(it  being  one  of  the  privileges  of  womanhood  to  do  two 
things  at  once  and  do  both  well),  did  not  reply  at  once, 
and  Jenney,  screening  his  eyes  with  his  hand,  looked  out 
to  seaward  for  a  long  moment,  and  then  cried,  — 


344  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Surely  there  's  a  sail  in  the  scurry  off  the  Gurnet ! 
Is  n't  it  so,  Livetenant  ?  " 

"  A  sail,  say  you  ?  "  replied  Holmes  slowly,  and  in 
the  mechanical  tone  of  one  whose  eye  is  glued  to  a 
spy-glass.  "  Well,  double  it,  and  thribble  it,  and  mayhap 
you  '11  hit  closer  to  the  bull's  eye." 

"  Three  sail !  "  exclaimed  Cooke,  fairly  dancing  with 
excitement.  "  Come,  now,  let 's  have  a  squint,  Holmes, 
just  a  cast  of  the  eye,  and  I  '11  give  back  the  glass  in  a 
jiffy.  Let  's  have  it,  there  's  a  Christian  !  " 

"  Well,  then,  Jake,  take  your  squint,  and  tell  me 
what  you  make  of  it.''  And  the  lieutenant,  laughing  a 
little,  rose  to  his  feet,  handed  the  glass  to  Cooke,  and 
rubbed  his  eyes,  which,  in  fact,  had  declined  to  serve 
any  longer  in  that  one-sided  fashion. 

"  You  're  right,  Holmes,  you  're  right !  'T  is  three 
sail,  and  sizable  craft,  too ;  brigantines,  I  should  say." 

"  Come,  come,  Jake  !  "  expostulated  the  lieutenant 
jealously.  "  A  man  's  not  going  to  tell  a  brigantine  from 
a  bark  at  this  distance,  and  with  such  a  spoor  flying." 

"  Mabbe  not,  Livetenant,  mabbe  not ;  but  I  '11  miss 
my  guess  if  it 's  not  a  brigantine  I  've  got  in  the  field 
now,  and  laboring  mightily  she  is.  Take  my  word  for 
it,  Brown's  Island  '11  be  the  death  of  her,  unless  they  've 
got  a  skipper  out  of  a  thousand,  and  men  of  might  to 
handle  helm  and  canvas." 

"  Give  me  one  peep  before  you  take  the  glass," 
pleaded  Jenney,  and  jolly  Holmes  consenting,  the  young 
fellow  so  availed  himself  of  the  privilege  that  Cooke, 
who  was  a  trifle  short-sighted,  and  found  his  own  eyes 
useless,  protested,  — 

"  It 's  bad  manners  for  any  man  to  take  so  long  a 
pull  at  the  glass  !  Pass  it  around  lively  is  the  rule." 


A  BOLD  BUCCANEEK.  345 

"  My  chance  now,"  cried  Holmes  peremptorily ;  so  the 
three  men  watched,  turn  and  turn  about,  until  Holmes 
after  a  long  survey  handed  the  glass  to  Cooke,  saying,  — 

"  It 's  time  for  me  to  go  down  and  report  to  the  gov 
ernor.  Stay  you  here  and  keep  goal  till  I  come  back." 

"  All  right.  I  '11  do  it,"  briefly  replied  Cooke,  al 
ready  absorbed  in  the  sense  of  sight. 

In  the  wide  house  under  the  hill,  where  Bradford 
and  his  early  love  were  growing  placidly  old  together, 
there  was  a  guest  of  unusual  degree,  and  Lieutenant 
Holmes,  requesting  to  see  the  governor  at  once,  was  ush 
ered  into  the  dining-room,  where  with  the  master  and 
mistress  of  the  house,  their  two  sons  and  Gillian,  sat  a 
priest  in  the  strait  garb  of  the  Jesuit,  and  bearing  upon 
his  thin,  shrewd  face  the  traces  of  that  cultivation  and 
worldly  facility  generally  marking  the  Order  which  has 
ruled  the  world,  and  yet  failed  to  save  itself.  This 
was  Father  Drouillette,  a  Frenchman  by  birth,  a  cosmo 
politan  by  training,  visiting  the  New  World,  not,  as  we 
may  be  sure,  without  a  purpose,  and  yet  quite  capable 
of  allowing  himself  to  be  torn  in  little  shreds  without 
suffering  that  purpose  to  be  discovered. 

He  had  already  been  in  Boston,  and  the  fishing-smack 
that  brought  him  from  thence  to  Plymouth  would  with 
the  morning's  tide  sail  for  Manhattan,  so  that  four-and- 
twenty  hours  comprised  his  stay  in  Plymouth  ;  but  this 
brief  sojourn  was  enough  for  the  Jesuit  to  see  and  know 
that  the  soil  of  the  Old  Colony  was  not  yet  ripe  for  the 
seeds  of  the  cinchona  (then  called  Jesuit's  Bark),  and 
also  to  read  Bradford's  noble  nature  and  courteous 
kindliness,  to  both  of  which  he  did  full  justice  in  his 
report,  adding  that  as  the  day  was  Friday,  the  governor 
gave  him  an  excellent  dinner  of  fish. 


346  BETTY  ALDEN. 

After  the  fish  came  a  delicate  pudding,  succeeded  by 
a  dessert,  over  which  the  family  still  sat  when  Lieu 
tenant  Holmes,  entering  the  room,  reported  three  large 
vessels  in  distress  driving  into  the  harbor,  and  already 
off  Beach  Point. 

"  Are  the  lives  of  the  mariners  in  danger  ?  "  inquired 
the  priest,  crossing  himself  so  unobtrusively  that  only 
Bradford  perceived  the  gesture. 

"  I  fear  for  them  if  they  do  not  keep  to  the  channel, 
for  the  tide  is  on  the  ebb,  and  't  is  but  a  crooked 
course,"  replied  Holmes  ;  and  the  governor,  rising,  said 
somewhat  hurriedly,  — 

"  If  you  will  excuse  me,  sir,  I  will  leave  you  with  my 
wife  for  a  little,  and  go  to  see  that  a  pilot  is  sent 
out"  — 

"  I  told  Doten  to  get  his  boat  ready,  and  wait  your 
Excellency's  orders,"  interposed  Holmes,  resolute  to  give 
the  governor  his  full  honors  before  this  stranger. 

"That  was  well  done,  friend,"  replied  Bradford 
gently,  and  would  have  left  the  room,  but  the  priest,  ris 
ing  nimbly,  and  taking  his  cloak  and  hat  from  the  deer's 
antlers  where  they  hung,  exclaimed,  in  his  perfect 
although  accented  English,  "Nay,  I  will  not  be  left 
behind.  There  may  be  use  for  another  pair  of  hands." 

"And  possibly  for  a  turn  of  priest-craft,"  thought 
Bradford,  smiling  to  himself ;  but  Drouillette,  catching 
the  smile,  returned  it  with  a  little  shrug  and  arch  of  the 
eyebrows,  saying  in  French,  — 

"  And  why  not  ?     Few  mariners  sail  from  Geneva." 

"  You  are  in  your  right,  sir,"  returned  the  governor  in 
the  same  tongue,  and  courteously  motioning  his  guest  to 
pass  before  him,  while  Gillian,  to  whom  French  was  a 
mother  tongue,  listened  with  both  ears,  and  resolved  to 


A  BOLD  BUCCANEER.  347 

by  and  by  hold  a  private  conversation  with  the  priest, 
who  already  had  perceived  her  knowledge  of  his  lan 
guage  and  taken  the  measure  of  her  nature ;  that  she 
would  prove  an  easy  proselyte,  and  quite  enjoy  the 
intrigue  of  covertly  becoming  a  Catholic  while  openly 
remaining  in  a  Protestant  community,  he  had  also  per 
ceived,  but  after  a  moment's  thought  had  decided  the 
facile  victory  to  be  at  once  valueless  and  dangerous,  and 
during  the  rest  of  his  stay  opposed  a  bland  stupidity  to 
all  the  girl's  ingenious  advances. 

The  stout  pilot  boat,  clumsy  enough  as  contrasted 
with  those  that  to-day  skim  across  the  waters  of  Ply 
mouth  harbor,  but  then  a  model  of  beauty  and  skill, 
lay  ready  beside  the  Rock,  and  at  a  word  from  the 
governor  speeded  forth  under  its  close-reefed  foresail, 
carrying  three  active  fellows  to  the  rescue  of  the  fore 
most  brigantine,  which,  warned  by  the  sounding-lead  of 
shoal  water,  and  struggling  against  a  current  which  in 
sisted  upon  setting  her  ashore  on  the  beach,  was  lying 
to  and  waiting  for  pilotage.  Half  an  hour  later  the  three 
vessels  were  anchored  in  the  stream,  and  a  procession 
of  boats  was  bringing  their  officers  and  detachments  of 
the  crews  ashore,  discharging  them  at  a  rude  stone  pier 
and  bulkhead  extending  a  few  feet  beyond  the  Rock, 
which,  as  yet  uninjured  by  patriotic  zeal,  lay  calmly  pre 
siding  over  the  modern  commotions  that  had  come  to 
disturb  its  centuries  of  solitude. 

In  the  place  of  honor  in  the  first  boat  sat  a  very 
elegant  gentleman,  dressed  in  all  the  picturesque  brav 
ery  of  a  cavalier :  his  broad  hat  covered  with  ostrich 
plumes,  his  doublet  of  Genoese  velvet  slashed  with  satin 
of  Lyons  in  harmonious  shades  of  cramoisie  and  mur 
rey,  his  breeches  of  velvet  adorned  with  a  deep  lace 


348  BETTY  ALDEN. 

almost  hidden  by  the  wrinkled  tops  of  boots  of  soft 
Cordovan  leather.  To  correct  the  effeminacy  of  this 
costume,  accented  as  it  was  by  jewels,  lace,  and  per 
fume  in  profusion,  Captain  Cromwell,  prince  and  leader 
of  the  buccaneers  soon  to  swarm  the  Spanish  seas, 
carried  so  proud  and  warlike  a  countenance,  curled 
his  mustachios  so  fiercely,  showed  such  strong  white 
teeth  set  in  so  massive  a  jaw,  and  such  broad  shoulders 
and  muscular  limbs,  that  it  must  have  been  a  rash  man, 
indeed,  who  ventured  to  make  criticism  of  whatever  the 
captain  might  choose  to  wear,  or  to  inquire  how  an 
officer  under  commission  from  the  new  Commonwealth 
of  England  still  displayed  himself  under  the  guise  of 
a  royalist  cavalier.  The  explanation  probably,  had  he 
chosen  to  give  it,  was  that  the  Spanish  seas  were  a  long 
distance  from  England,  that  it  was  a  long  while  since 
his  letter-of -marque  had  left  home,  and  that  as  the  King 
was  still  at  large,  the  fortune  of  war  might  at  any  mo 
ment  replace  him  upon  the  throne,  so  that  in  view  of 
all  these  circumstances  a  successful  buccaneer  must  be  in 
a  great  measure  his  own  lawgiver.  Nominally,  Captain 
Cromwell  was  in  religion  and  politics  a  Parliament  man  ; 
at  heart,  he  was  a  Roman  Catholic  and  a  cavalier,  and 
at  this  distance  from  the  central  authority  indulged  him 
self  in  at  least  dressing  to  suit  his  own  taste. 

Springing  ashore  as  the  boat  touched  the  pier,  the  com 
mandant,  without  waiting  for  an  introduction  from  Lieu 
tenant  Holmes,  who  escorted  him,  doffed  his  hat  until 
the  plumes  swept  the  ground  and  bowed  low,  both  to  the 
governor  and  the  priest,  saying,  — 

"  My  respects  to  you,  most  noble  Governor,  and  to  you, 
reverend  sir,  and  my  thanks  for  the  timely  aid  you  have 
sent  us.  Allow  me  to  present  myself  as  Thomas  Crom- 


A  BOLD  BUCCANEER.  349 

well,  in  command  of  these  three  brigantines  sent  out  by 
the  English  government  to  hold  our  country's  foes,  es 
pecially  those  of  Spain,  in  check,  and  to  make  reprisals 
for  certain  offenses  offered  to  the  British  flag  in  these 
waters.  As  it  is  long  since  I  had  news  from  England, 
I  will  not  add  '  God  save  the  King ! '  nor  yet  '  God  save 
the  Parliament ! '  lest  I  should  offend  somebody's  sen 
sibilities,  but  content  myself  with  simply  exclaiming, 
4  God  save  old  England  ! ' ' 

"  An  aspiration  we  all  may  echo,  Captain  Cromwell," 
replied  Bradford  gravely,  "  and  I  am  happy  to  assure  you 
that  by  the  latest  advices  from  England  the  parliamen 
tarians  under  whose  authority  you  sail  are  still  favored 
by  Providence.  For  the  rest,  all  honest  Englishmen  are 
welcome  to  such  hospitality  as  our  impoverished  town 
can  offer.  There  is  an  Ordinary  at  the  head  of  this 
hill  kept  by  James  Cole,  where  very  decent  accommoda 
tion  may  be  had  for  your  men,  and  I  shall  be  most 
happy  to  welcome  you  and  your  officers  at  mine  own 
house,  nearly  opposite  the  tavern,  as  often  as  you  are 
pleased  to  come.  This  gentleman,  a  guest  like  yourself, 
is  called  Father  Drouillette,  from  France." 

"  My  duty  to  you,  father,"  responded  Cromwell,  bend 
ing  his  knee,  and  the  Jesuit,  keenly  regarding  him,  made 
a  slight  motion  of  benediction,  murmuring,  "  Bless  you, 
my  son." 

"  And  now,"  continued  Bradford,  in  a  less  formal  man 
ner,  "  let  us  at  once  seek  the  shelter  of  James  Cole's  roof 
and  mine,  and  escape  this  biting  wind,  of  which,  Cap 
tain,  you  will  already  have  had  more  than  enough,  as  I 
opine." 

The  buccaneer  assented,  and  speaking  a  rapid  word 
or  two  among  the  men  surrounding  him,  sent  the  mass 


350  BETTY  ALDEN. 

of  them  to  the  tavern  with  a  stern  injunction  to  sobriety 
and  decency ;  then  calling  the  commanders  of  the  three 
ships,  he  presented  them  to  Bradford,  who  at  once  ex 
tended  his  invitation  to  them,  and  led  the  way  to  the 
house,  where  a  merry  fire  and  refreshments  were  found 
awaiting  them,  but  nobody  was  to  be  seen. 

"  I  wonder  through  which  crevice  that  little  schemer 
is  peeping,"  said  Father  Drouillette  to  himself  as  he 
took  snuff  and  presented  his  box  to  Cromwell,  who  took 
a  pinch,  and  absorbing  it  delicately,  said,  — 

"  You  must  let  me  offer  you  a  jar  of  Spanish  mix 
ture,  prepared,  as  I  hear,  especially  for  the  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  who  is  curious  in  his  tobacco.  It  is  most  agree 
ably  scented  with  vanilla,  and  carries  a  certain  odor  of 
incense  that  arouses  very  devout  reminiscences  in  the 
mind  of  a  poor  wanderer  like  myself." 

"  My  poor  nose  would  indeed  feel  itself  honored  by  a 
pinch  of  such  truly  ecclesiastical  snuff  as  you  describe. 
But  as  I  sail  with  the  morning  tide,  I  fear  I  shall  not 
have  the  opportunity  of  trying  it,"  replied  the  Jesuit ; 
and  Cromwell,  after  a  moment's  thought,  suggested,  — 

"  Unless,  reverend  sir,  you  would  do  me  the  honor  of 
sleeping  on  board  the  Golden  Fleece,  as  my  ship  is 
called.  I  can  offer  you  a  decent  bed,  and  my  fellows  will 
doubtless  purvey  in  this  good  town  the  material  for  a 
breakfast.  Shall  I  have  the  honor  of  entertaining  your 
reverence  ?  " 

"  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  accept  your  hospitality,  my 
son,  if  Governor  Bradford  will  accept  my  humble  ex 
cuses  for  cutting  short  my  visit  to  him,"  began  the  priest ; 
but  before  he  could  finish,  a  door  at  the  end  of  the  room 
quietly  opened,  and  Gillian,  with  downcast  eyes  and  air 
of  timid  modesty,  glided  to  Bradford's  side,  murmuring : 


A  BOLD  BUCCANEEE.  351 

"  Our  dame  fain  would  know  how  many  beds  we  shall 
prepare.  She  says  there  are  plenty  for  all  the  gentle 
men." 

"  St.  Anthony  befriend  us  !  Is  that  the  daughter  of 
our  worthy  host  ?  "  whispered  Cromwell  to  the  priest, 
who  only  shook  his  head,  and  rising  from  his  chair  said 
in  English,  — 

"  Master  Bradford,  will  you  hold  me  excused  if  I  ac 
cept  this  gentleman's  invitation  to  pass  the  night  aboard 
his  vessel  ?  It  may  be  more  convenient  for  my  early 
embarkation,  and  less  disturbance  to  your  household." 

"  You  shall  perfectly  suit  your  own  convenience,  sir," 
replied  Bradford  in  his  calm  and  gentle  fashion,  al 
though  the  murmured  colloquies  of  priest  and  buccaneer 
had  rather  annoyed  him  ;  "  but  you  will  all  take  your 
supper  with  us,  I  trust.  Gillian,  you  may  tell  the  mis 
tress  that  these  five  gentlemen  will  sup  with  us,  but  pre 
fer  to  sleep  on  board  ship." 

That  night  Captain  Cromwell  transferred  a  curious 
chronicle  of  the  misdoings  of  a  year  past  from  his  own 
conscience  to  the  custody  of  the  priest,  and  received 
some  very  sensible  and^  practical  advice.  But  at  the 
end  of  all,  the  penitent,  with  a  gesture  of  deference,  de 
clared,  — 

"  You  're  right,  father,  doubtless  right,  both  as  priest 
and  man  of  the  world  ;  but  I  feel  it  in  my  marrow  that 
yon  lass  is  my  fate,  and  't  is  useless  striving  against  it. 
Those  eyes  of  hers  pierced  my  heart  to  the  core  when 
first  they  met  mine  own,  and  when  at  supper  she  served 
me  with  meat  and  drink,  no  nectar  or  ambrosia  was  ever 
more  Olympian." 

"  Well,  well,  my  son,"  answered  the  priest  indulgently, 
"  I  say  not  you  shall  not  marry  the  maid  if  she  will  have 


852  BETTY  ALDEN. 

you ;  but  I  forebode  it  will  be  a  marriage  of  haste,  most 
vainly  repented  of  at  leisure.  I  spoke  with  the  gov 
ernor  about  her,  and  find  she  is  a  penniless  orphan,  al 
though  connected  with  the  family  of  their  late  teacher, 
Elder  Brewster,  as  they  called  him  ;  and  Mistress  Gil 
lian  is  under  the  austere  protection  of  the  governor  and 
his  most  sweet  and  gracious  lady.  Your  wooing,  if  you 
persist  in  this  mad  intention,  must  be  wholly  honorable 
and  worthy.  Remember  that,  my  son  !  "  and  the  priest's 
voice  assumed  a  stern  and  authoritative  accent,  which 
the  penitent  accepted  with  a  bend  of  his  head  while  he 
replied,  — 

"  Most  positively  so,  father.  The  homeless  maid 
shall  become  Mistress  Cromwell,  with  all  the  pomp  and 
ceremony"  — 

"Of  Master  Bradford's  office,"  interposed  the  Jesuit. 
"  For  these  poor  rebels  to  our  dear  Mother's  authority 
are  only  married  by  civil  process,  and  scorn  the  church's 
benediction." 

"  Is  that  the  way  of  it !  "  exclaimed  Cromwell,  a  little 
dismayed.  "  Well,  I  will  bring  my  bride  to  Manhattan 
or  to  Virginia,  where  you  tell  me  you  are  to  found  a  col 
lege,  and  our  nuptials  shall  be  blessed  there.  The  civil 
rite  binds  us  so  far  as  law  is  concerned." 

"  Man's  law,  yes,"  replied  the  priest  dryly;  "and  I 
will  trust  your  word  to  fulfill  this  promise,  if  indeed  you 
carry  out  your  most  rash  resolve." 

"  I  shall  carry  it  out,  father,"  asserted  the  buccaneer 
quietly.  "  'T  is  my  way." 

The  next  morning  Father  Drouillette,  the  richer  by 
a  gloriously  illuminated  missal,  a  gold  crucifix  set  with 
five  great  rubies,  and  half  a  dozen  jars  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Toledo's  snuff,  embarked  on  board  the  fisherman. 


A  BOLD  BUCCANEER.  353 

while  Cromwell  took  up  his  quarters  at  Cole's  tavern, 
which  woke  to  such  thriving  business  as  it  had  never 
known  before.  Examination  of  the  brigantines  showed 
two  of  them  to  be  in  need  of  extensive  repairs  in  conse 
quence  not  only  of  the  storm  which  had  driven  them  into 
Plymouth,  but  of  the  long  cruise  preceding  it ;  and  as 
this  cruise  had  been  exceedingly  prosperous,  the  mari 
ners,  who  during  the  next  month  pervaded  the  town  and 
made  acquaintance  with  most  of  its  inhabitants,  scattered 
their  money  and  precious  commodities  of  various  sorts 
in  such  profusion  that  Governor  Winthrop,  of  Boston,  in 
chronicling  this  visit,  attributes  the  storm  that  drove  the 
buccaneer  into  Plymouth  to  a  divine  interposition  in 
tended  for  the  maintenance  of  the  impoverished  town, 
threatened  with  utter  desertion  and  destruction. 

Nor  was  the  leader  less  generous  and  profuse  than  his 
more  reckless  followers,  so  that  not  only  were  the  gov 
ernor's  family  overwhelmed  with  as  many  rich  gifts  as  he 
could  be  prevailed  on  to  allow  them  to  accept,  but  nearly 
every  one  of  the  poorer  families  was  so  substantially 
relieved  as  to  give  all  new  hope  and  energy  to  help 
themselves. 

Not  a  week  from  the  day  of  his  arrival  had  elapsed 
before  Cromwell  sought  an  interview  with  the  gov 
ernor,  and,  without  mentioning  that  he  already  had  ob 
tained  her  full  consent  to  his  proposals,  offered  him 
self  as  a  suitor  for  Mistress  Gillian's  hand.  Bradford, 
utterly  amazed  at  the  idea,  would  at  the  first  have  abso 
lutely  set  it  aside,  declaring  that  such  a  sudden  fancy 
could  have  no  substantial  foundation,  and  was  unworthy 
of  discussion  ;  but  when  next  the  governor  was  closeted 
with  his  wife,  he  discovered  that  in  her  mind  this  mar 
riage  was  a  scheme  to  be  encouraged  as  much  as  possi- 


354  BETTY  ALLEN. 

ble,  and  at  the  last,  a  little  impatient  of  masculine  den 
sity,  the  wife  exclaimed,  — 

"  'T  is  an  honorable  and  safe  way  out  of  the  moil  we 
have  been  stirring  in,  since  first  we  made  Gillian  one  of 
our  family ;  and  so  that  she  desires  it,  and  he  hath  means 
and  will  to  care  for  her,  all  that  remains,  if  she  has  Love 
Brewster's  consent,  is  for  me  to  make  up  the  piece  of 
brocade  Cromwell  hath  given  her  into  a  wedding  gown, 
and  for  you  to  bind  them  fast  in  matrimony." 

"Say  you  so,  Elsie,  say  you  so?"  demanded  the 
governor,  pausing  in  the  perilous  operation  of  shaving 
his  chin  to  stare  into  the  mirror  at  his  wife,  who  was 
settling  her  cap  at  one  corner.  "  Why,  I  fancied  you 
prized  Gillian's  company  and  daughterly  service  above 
all  things." 

"  I  can  spare  it,"  briefly  replied  Alice  Bradford  with 
an  inscrutable  smile. 

"  But  has  n't  the  child  won  a  place  in  your  affections, 
wife  ?  " 

"  She  has  in  yours  and  Will's  and  Joseph's,  and  that 's 
three  parts  of  the  family." 

"  Surely,  Alice,  you  've  not  turned  jealous  ?  " 

"  You  lightly  me,  William,  when  you  ask  if  I  am  jeal 
ous  of  —  of  Gillian." 

''  I  do  not  comprehend,"  murmured  the  governor,  re 
suming  his  razor,  but  presently  suspending  it  to  demand 
with  considerable  energy,  — 

"  You  really  mean,  then,  that  as  honest  and  Godfear 
ing  guardians  of  this  child  we  should  give  her  in  mar 
riage  to  this  stranger  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do.  When  all  is  said,  she  is  almost  as  much 
a  stranger  as  he,  and  I  know  not  why  they  should  not 
suit  each  other  well." 


A  BOLD  BUCCANEER.  355 

"  So  be  it.  I  will  tell  the  man,  and  do  you  speak  as 
a  mother  should  to  the  maid.  'T  is  not  like  you,  Alice, 
to  be  bitter." 

"  I  shall  not  love  her  the  better,  if  you  are  to  chide 
me  on  her  account,  Will." 

"Nay,  chide  thee,  sweetheart!  'T would  ill  befit  me 
to  chide  the  better  half  of  mine  own  life." 

So  the  suitor  received  permission  to  woo  his  bride 
openly,  and  Gillian  presently  so  shone  with  jewels,  and 
so  rustled  about  in  gorgeous  raiment,  that  matrons  and 
maids  suspended  their  work  to  run  to  the  doors  and 
watch  her  as  she  passed  by. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

THE  HILT  OF  A  RAPIER. 

"  VOYSYE  !    Hold  on,  man !    Here,  come  along  back !  " 

"  Belay  your  jaw,  you  landlubber !  I  'm  bound  to 
overhaul  that  clipper  before  she  gets  away !  Cast  off 
your  grapnel,  or  "  — 

And  twisting  his  arm  away  from  Francis  Billington, 
with  whom  he  had  been  drinking  until  both  men  had 
had  more  than  enough,  Richard  Voysye,  seaman  of  the 
Golden  Fleece,  set  out  to  overtake  the  female  figure 
which  had  just  flitted  past  them  in  the  twilight.  Bil 
lington,  not  so  tipsy  as  the  sailor,  lunged  forward  in  pur 
suit,  and  once  more  grasping  his  arm  exclaimed,  — 

"  'T  is  the  young  dame  your  captain  is  going  to 
marry,  I  tell  you,  and  't  will  go  hard  with  the  man  that 
affronts  her  "  — 

"  Hang  the  captain,  and  you  too !  There,  then,  you 
fool  — take  that!" 

Delivering,  as  he  spoke,  a  cruel  blow  in  the  face  of  his 
opponent,  Voysye  felled  him  to  the  ground,  and  pursuing 
Gillian,  who  hearing  the  scuffle  had  paused  to  look  be 
hind  her,  threw  a  rude  avm  around  her  waist,  crying,  — 

"  Come,  now,  I  '11  have  one  kiss,  if  I  die  for  't." 

But  Gillian,  lithe  as  a  cat,  struggled  and  fought  after 
her  kind,  so  successfully  that  the  ruffian  had  not  been 
able  to  snatch  his  kiss  before  a  heavy  foot  reached  him 
with  a  kick,  and  a  furious  voice  roared  in  his  ear,  — 


THE  HILT  OF  A  EAP1ER.  357 

"  Avast  there,  you  "  —  but  the  epithets  are  not  writ 
able,  and  in  these  days  no  man,  however  angry,  would 
use  them  in  a  woman's  presence.  They  were,  however, 
effectual,  for  with  an  oath  quite  as  furious  and  quite  as 
unmentionable,  Voysye  quitted  his  hold  upon  the  girl's 
waist  and,  turning,  aimed  at  Cromwell's  face  a  buffet 
which,  however,  only  reached  his  shoulder.  Angered, 
not  so  much  at  the  assault  as  the  insubordination,  the 
captain  seized  his  sheathed  rapier,  and  dealt  with  the 
hilt  a  blow  upon  the  sailor's  head  which  prostrated  him, 
bleeding  and  senseless,  at  Gillian's  feet. 

"  You  've  killed  him,  and  they  '11  hang  you  for  mur 
der  !  "  cried  she.  "  Hide  him,  and  get  away  with  your 
vessels  before  it 's  found  out." 

"  And  would  you  go  with  me  ?  "  demanded  Crom 
well,  gazing  curiously  in  the  girl's  fierce,  flushed  face. 

"  Yes  —  no  —  yes,  if  you  could  get  clear,  and  save 
your  neck  and  your  money,"  returned  Gillian  with  cyn 
ical  frankness. 

"  Ay,  I  thought  as  much,  Mistress,"  retorted  the 
sailor,  "  and  I  'm  a  fool  to  care  for  such  a  woman  ;  but 
still  I  do,  and  when  I  go  you  shall  go  too,  or  if  I  'm 
hung  you  shall  have  the  price  of  a  soul.  Thirty  pieces 
satisfied  Judas,  did  n't  it  ?  " 

"  Here  's  another  man  coming,"  replied  Gillian  coldly, 
and  with  no  more  words  she  walked  away,  while  Crom 
well,  turning  to  the  new-comer,  said,  — 

"  Well,  Higgins,  I  'm  beholden  to  you  for  setting  me 
on  his  track,  and  here  he  is.  He  lifted  his  hand  on  me, 
and  I  felled  him  with  a  tap  of  my  cutlass  hilt.  See  if 
he 's  hurt." 

Higgins,  a  man  of  few  words,  stared  for  a  moment 
into  his  captain's  face,  looked  after  the  retreating  figure 


858  BETTY  ALDEN. 

of  Gillian,  and  then  kneeling  beside  his  comrade  fin 
gered  the  wound  awhile,  mumbling,  "  Hurt,  I  should 
say !  'T  is  a  shrewd  wound  i'  faith  !  A  parlous  cut ! 
*T  is  life  and  death,  and  nigher  death  than  life,  to  my 
mind." 

"  Nonsense,  man,"  replied  Cromwell  a  little  uneasily. 
"  A  great  hulking  fellow  like  that  don't  die  of  a  tap 
on  his  numskull.  Run  you  into  the  village  and  fetch  a 
surgeon.  Hasten,  now,  and  when  you  've  sent  him,  see 
about  some  sort  of  litter,  that  we  may  take  him  to  Cole's 
tavern." 

"  'T  is  no  use,"  grumbled  Higgins,  but  still  scrambled 
to  his  feet,  and  set  off  at  such  good  speed  that  in  half  an 
hour  Doctor  Matthew  Fuller,  nephew  and  successor  of 
our  old  friend  Doctor  Samuel,  was  on  the  spot  and  en 
couraging  the  wounded  man's  efforts  toward  conscious 
ness.  But  so  soon  as  he  could  sit  up  and  speak,  Voysye, 
true  to  his  nature,  paid  his  surgeon's  bill  with  a  curse,  re 
sponded  to  his  captain's  rough  expressions  of  amity  with 
sulky  silence,  and  scorning  the  litter,  or  even  the  sup 
port  of  a  friendly  arm,  staggered  off  toward  the  shore, 
and  as  soon  as  possible  got  aboard  ship  and  comforted 
his  wound  with  as  much  Santa  Cruz  rum  as  he  could 
obtain,  seasoning  it  with  dire  threats  of  vengeance  against 
Higgins,  who  prudently  kept  out  of  his  way. 

"  'T  is  an  ill  wind  blown  over,"  reported  Cromwell 
to  his  sweetheart  that  night ;  and  so  it  might  have  proved 
but  that  Voysye,  waking  next  morning  in  the  disposi 
tions  natural  to  a  man  who  has  a  fevered  wound  across 
his  head,  and  has  gone  to  bed  very  drunk,  insisted  upon 
going  ashore  to  find  and  fight  with  Higgins,  who  had,  as 
he  knew,  reported  him  to  the  captain.  In  the  captain's 
absence  all  discipline  had  fallen  into  such  disrepute  that 


THE  HILT  OF  A  BAPIEE.  359 

nobody  opposed  the  half -delirious  movements  of  the 
wounded  man,  who  went  ashore,  roved  around  for  a 
while,  and  finally,  just  as  he  had  discovered  Higgins 
and  was  pointing  a  pistol  at  his  head,  was  seized  with 
convulsions,  and  twenty-four  hours  later  lay  a  dead  man 
in  an  upper  chamber  of  Cole's  tavern. 

So  serious  a  matter  as  this  could  not  be  suffered  to 
pass  unnoticed  by  the  authorities,  and  with  some  grave 
expressions  of  regret  and  an  assurance  of  honorable 
treatment,  Captain  Cromwell  was  placed  under  arrest 
and  lodged  in  the  strong-room  of  the  Fort  under  guard 
ianship  of  Lieutenant  Holmes,  while  a  messenger  was 
dispatched  to  Captain's  Hill  to  summon  Standish  to  a 
conference  with  the  governor  and  the  others  of  his 
council ;  for  the  sailor  had  requested  to  be  tried  by  a 
court  martial,  and  who  but  the  General  Officer  of  all  the 
Colonies  could  organize  and  head  it?  With  the  great 
captain  came  Lieutenant  Nash,  and  Ensign-bearer  Con 
stant  Southworth,  with  Hatherley,  Alden,  Willett,  Cud- 
worth,  and  other  of  the  Duxbury  men,  so  that  for  some 
days  Plymouth  assumed  the  air  of  a  garrisoned  place  in 
time  of  war,  much  to  the  delight  of  Gillian,  and  per 
haps  some  other  of  the  lonely  maids  of  the  almost  de 
serted  town. 

The  court  martial,  formal  and  dignified  in  its  pro 
ceedings  and  absolutely  just  in  its  dealings,  lasted  for  a 
whole  day,  and  much  testimony  to  Cromwell's  generous 
and  humane  treatment  of  his  men  was  rendered,  as  well 
as  a  good  deal  most  unfavorable  to  the  character  of  the 
dead  man,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  very  drunken  and 
brutal  fellow.  The  only  possible  testimony  as  to  the 
rencontre  was  that  of  Gillian,  and  this  she  was  most 
anxious  to  be  permitted  to  give  in  person  before  the 


360  BETTY  ALDEN. 

court ;  but  here  both  Bradford  and  Brewster  interposed, 
and  insisted  that  a  written  affidavit  made  and  sworn 
before  the  governor  should  be  accepted,  a  course  in 
dorsed  by  Standish  with  great  alacrity. 

In  the  end  Cromwell  was  acquitted,  but  not  without 
an  exhortation  from  Parson  Rayner,  the  Chaplain  of  the 
Commission,  to  greater  reverence  and  tenderness  for 
human  life,  to  which  the  prisoner  listened  respectfully, 
but  Standish  with  a  covert  smile  playing  around  the 
sadness  of  his  mouth,  as  he  recalled  a  similar  reproach 
long  ago  made  to  him  by  John  Robinson,  now  many 
years  gone  to  his  rest. 

Perhaps  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  court  martial 
that  had  tried  and  acquitted  him,  possibly  as  a  late 
testimony  to  his  tenderness  for  human  life,  Cromwell's 
first  act  as  a  free  man  was  to  order  a  military  funeral  for 
Voysye,  and  to  request  the  presence  of  the  train  band  of 
Plymouth,  to  every  member  of  which  he  presented  a 
piece  of  black  taffeta  to  make  a  mourning  cloak. 

"And  now  I  will  marry  you,"  said  Gillian,  when 
next  she  saw  her  lover  alone ;  but  he,  with  a  queer  smile, 
replied,  — 

"  Think  better  of  it,  my  dear  !  my  money  is  well-nigh 
spent,  and  I  feel  it  in  my  bones  that  the  next  court  mar 
tial  will  order  me  to  be  shot.  You  '11  make  a  poor  bar 
gain,  and  that 's  not  to  your  mind." 

"  A  poor  bargain  indeed !  "  retorted  Gillian,  her  tem 
per  flaming  up  ;  and  as  John  Alden's  boat  was  over 
from  Duxbury  she  begged  a  passage  in  it,  and  an  hour 
later  was  on  her  way  to  visit  Betty  Pabodie,  as  she  pre 
tended,  but  really  to  torment  Sarah  Brewster,  who  felt 
that  she  had  no  right  to  refuse  her  willful  kinswoman 
shelter  whenever  she  claimed  it. 


THE  HILT  OF  A  EAPIER.  361 

A  few  days  later  Cromwell  sailed  for  Boston,  where 
he  remained  for  some  months,  presented  Governor  Win- 
throp  with  an  elegant  sedan-chair,  taken  out  of  one  of 
his  prizes,  and  was  much  admired  and  petted.  Whether 
Gillian  joined  him  there  and  was  openly  married  to 
him,  or  whether  the  innate  romance  pervasive  of  the 
sea  moved  Cromwell  to  plan  and  execute  an  elopement 
for  the  girl,  whose  relatives  would  have  been  only  too 
glad  to  give  her  to  any  worthy  husband,  we  cannot  tell ; 
but  that  in  some  way  they  at  last  came  together  is  evi 
dent,  and  also  that  they  were  married,  since  she  was 
allowed  to  inherit  his  property.  The  manner  of  his 
death  was  one  of  those  marvels  which  men  then  regarded 
as  a  direct  judgment  from  heaven,  but  which  we  mod 
erns  are  content  to  call  a  strange  coincidence. 

It  was  in  the  late  autumn,  and  Cromwell,  after  a 
merry  feast  at  the  house  of  a  boon  companion  in  Dor 
chester,  was  riding  rapidly  homeward,  when  his  horse 
slipped  upon  an  icy  slope,  and  threw  his  rider  violently 
over  his  head.  The  night  passed,  and  in  the  morning 
a  wayfarer  found  the  faithful  beast  standing  pensive 
and  patient  beside  his  master's  prostrate  body,  now  cold 
and  stiff ;  and  when  he  was  brought  into  the  town  and 
carried  to  his  lodgings  a  wild-eyed  woman  rushed  to 
meet  him,  and  staring  at  the  wound  whence  his  life- 
blood  had  drained  away,  shrieked,  "  'T  is  Voysye's  hurt 
over  again,"  and  fell  in  a  swoon  across  the  body. 

John  Higgins,  who  had  followed  his  captain's  body 
home,  started  in  terror  at  that  word,  and  coming  for 
ward  drew  away  the  hair  from  the  wound,  stared  at  it 
as  Gillian  had  done,  and  hoarsely  asked,  — 

"  Was  't  Voysye's  spook  did  it  ?  " 

"  Nay,  man,"  impatiently  answered  the  man  who  had 


362  BETTY  ALDEN. 

found  him.  "  See  you  not  that  't  was  the  hilt  of  the 
poor  gentleman's  own  rapier  did  it  ?  When  I  came 
upon  him,  the  brass  was  bedded  in  the  wound,  and  you 
may  see  the  blood  and  hairs  upon  it  now.  See !  " 

"  Ay,  I  see,"  replied  Higgins  heavily.  "  And  well 
do  I  know,  without  seeing,  whose  hand  it  was  that  urged 
the  hilt  to  just  that  spot  upon  my  poor  captain's  head. 
Wow  !  But  I  wish  I  might  have  seen  the  tussle  that 
befell  when  the  old  man  got  free  of  his  carcase  and 
fell  upon  Voysye  man  to  man  ;  nay,  spook  to  spook. 
Would  they  still  be  at  it,  think  you  ?  " 

In  a  month  or  so  more,  Gillian,  a  very  wealthy  young 
widow,  sailed  for  England,  where  she  married  a  pious 
and  passing  rich  old  Covenanter,  whom  she  also  sur 
vived,  and  became  one  of  the  gayest  and  least  preju 
diced  ladies  of  the  Court  of  Charles  the  Second,  where 
we  will  leave  her. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

CANARY  WINE  AND   SEED-CAKE. 

IT  was  in  what  Captain  William  Pierce  called  the  ebb 
of  the  afternoon ;  that  dreamy,  quiet  leisure  hour  that 
falls  in  country  places  when  the  heavy  work  and  heavy 
feeding  of  the  day  are  over,  and  the  evening  milking  and 
bedding  the  cattle  and  providing  the  pleasant  meal 
called  supper  still  lie  in  the  middle  distance. 

Priscilla,  our  own  Priscilla,  not  forgotten  or  unloved, 
although  unmentioned  and  a  little  hidden  behind  the 
throng  of  new-comers,  —  Priscilla  Alden  stood  in  the 
thrifty  orchard  of  pear  and  apple  trees,  planted  twenty 
years  before  by  her  goodman,  trees  whose  lineal  descen 
dants  may  to-day  be  found  in  the  place  of  the  old  ones, 
just  as  Aldens  still  till  the  Aldens'  farm. 

At  the  edge  of  the  orchard  a  row  of  lime  -  trees 
shaded  the  well  and  the  southern  door  of  the  comforta 
ble  house,  and  beneath  these  trees  were  set  the  beehives, 
whose  dainty  denizens  loved  the  golden  blossoms  so  well 
that  from  morning  until  night  they  swarmed  up  and 
down  their  fragrant  pasture,  making  a  sound  like  the 
surf  upon  a  pebbly  shore.  Priscilla  is  gone,  those  trees, 
those  bees  are  gone,  and  you  and  I  are  going,  but  the 
bees  of  to-day  swarm  just  as  vigorously  through  this 
lime-tree  at  my  window  as  those  did  then,  and  as  the 
bees  of  two  or  three  centuries  hence  will  through  the 
trees  whose  seeds  are  not  yet  planted.  Only  man  is 


364  BETTY  ALLEN. 

ephemeral  and  changeable  :  the  bees  and  the  trees  are 
conservative. 

Some  such  idea,  but  too  vague  to  be  recognized  by 
an  unspeculative  brain,  floated  through  Priscilla's  mind 
as,  leaning  against  the  trunk  of  her  favorite  pear-tree, 
she  gazed  up  into  the  yellow  lime  blossoms,  listened  to 
the  bees,  and  remembered  the  years  when  she  and  John 
had  planted  the  trees,  while  their  little  children  looked 
on  and  asked  questions. 

"  Ah  well,  ah  well !  "  murmured  she  at  last.  "  'T  is 
their  nature  to  swarm  —  the  children  and  the  bees,  both ; 
and  Betty  shall  have  the  best  hive  as  soon  as  they  're 
settled.  Ah  me  !  " 

Then  with  one  of  her  old  impetuous  motions  Priscilla 
dashed  her  hands  across  her  eyes  and  cleared  them  of 
the  coming  tears.  Good,  kindly,  honest  eyes  still,  if 
not  so  bright  or  so  brown  as  they  were  once,  and  as 
Betty's  are  now ;  and  a  comely  matron  face,  albeit  the 
colors  are  somewhat  ripened ;  and  the  chestnut  hair,  lined 
with  a  silver  thread  here  and  there,  is  put  back  under 
a  matron's  coif,  but  the  mobile  lips  still  disclose  perfect 
teeth,  and  John  Alden  still  holds  it  a  delight  to  take  a 
kiss  from  those  lips,  and  put  his  finger  under  that 
smooth,  round  chin.  'T  is  no  more  than  later  summer 
yet,  and  the  frosts  of  autumn  are  as  yet  far  distant. 

"  Ah  well,  ah  well !  "  said  Priscilla  once  more,  and 
restlessly  plucked  a  rose  or  two  from  the  tall  bush 
beside  the  door,  those  old-fashioned,  sweet  white  roses 
now  almost  forgotten.  As  she  pinned  them  in  the  ker 
chief  covering  her  bosom,  the  matron  paused,  and  with 
eye  and  ear  questioned  the  grassy  path  leading  from  the 
new-made  highway  to  the  front  of  their  own  house. 
Yes,  a  horse  was  heavily  trotting  up  the  path,  and,  going 


CANARY   WINE  AND  SEED-CAKE.  365 

around  the  corner  of  the  house,  Priscilla  was  just  in 
time  to  meet  Mistress  Standish,  mounted  upon  a  pillion, 
with  John  Haward  in  the  saddle. 

"  And  glad  am  I  to  see  you,  Barbara,"  cried  she,  em 
bracing  and  kissing  her  friend  with  more  vivacity  than 
most  mothers  of  her  day  ventured  to  show.  "  'T  is  a 
sight  for  sore  eyes  to  look  upon  you.  Where  have  you 
been  keeping  yourself  ?  " 

"  Where  housewives  must  —  at  home,"  replied  Bar 
bara  pleasantly.  "  John,  you  can  lift  the  saddle  and 
cool  the  mare's  back,  but  I  shall  not  tarry  over  an  hour, 
so  hold  you  within  call." 

"  Nay,  you  '11  stay  supper,"  remonstrated  Priscilla 
as  the  two  women  went  into  the  house,  and  the  hostess 
removed  her  guest's  riding  gear.  "  There  's  a  moon,  you 
know." 

"  Ay,  and  there  's  a  goodman  at  home,"  retorted  Bar 
bara,  and  then,  her  face  suddenly  losing  its  somewhat 
artificial  air  of  cheerfulness,  she  looked  piteously  in  her 
friend's  eyes  and  said  with  a  catch  in  her  voice,  — 

"  'T  is  about  him,  about  Myles,  that  I  've  come  to  see 
you,  Priscilla." 

"  Why,  what  is  the  matter,  dear  ?  Is  the  captain  ail 
ing  more  than  usual  ?  " 

"  No,  though  he  's  far  from  well,  and  naught  angers 
him  so  quick  as  saying  so  ;  but  that 's  not  the  worst. 
'Tis  his  soul  that  's  sick,  Priscilla." 

"  But  how  ?  Has  the  parson  been  at  him  again  to 
join  the  church  ?  " 

"  Nay,  I  'm  afraid  Master  Partridge  will  never  look 
over  the  things  Myles  said  the  last  time  he  urged  him 
so  vehemently,  and  the  captain  gave  way  to  the  ache  in 
his  back,  that  he  says  is  ever  with  him,  and  let  out  a 


366  BETTY  ALDEN. 

strange  oath  or  two  about  meddling  parsons  and  I  know 
not  what.  To  be  sure  't  was  in  Dutch,  but  I  think  par 
son  spelled  out  enough  of  it  to  anger  him,  and"  — 

"  And  serve  him  right,  plaguing  a  sick  man  with  the 
catechism,"  broke  in  Priscilla.  "  But  if  not  that,  what 
is  it  ails  the  captain  ?  " 

"  Why,  it  's  not  so  much  the  captain  that 's  ailing  as 
Josiah,  poor  boy." 

"  Josiah  ailing  !  " 

"  Yes,  with  a  sore  and  sharp  disease  called  love-sick 
ness,  Priscilla.  You  know  he  's  sweethearted  Mary 
Dingley  these  five  years  or  more,  and  a  dear,  pretty,  lov 
ing  little  maid  she  is." 

"  Yes,  and  what  's  come  across  their  courting  ?  " 

"  Why,  there  's  where  Myles  is  distraught.  Before 
our  Lora  went,  you  know  she  and  Mary  Dingley  were 
closer  than  sisters,  and  while  my  poor  girl  lay  sick 
Mary  was  ever  at  her  side,  and  helped  us  «dress  her 
for  her  burying  "  — 

"  Ah,  the  sweet  saint,  how  pure  and  holy  she  looked 
when  we  had  done !  "  murmured  Priscilla,  but  Barbara 
hurriedly  raised  her  hand. 

"  Nay,  talk  not  on  't,  or  I  shall  lose  sight  of  all  else. 
'T  is  only  by  times  I  dare  to  speak  of  her.  You  know 
when  our  Alick  married  your  Sally,  his  father  would  fain 
have  had  them  come  home  to  live  ;  but  Sally  had  liever 
keep  her  own  house,  and  Alick  felt  himself  old  enough 
to  be  goodman,  — and,  well,  never  mind  all  that,  but  Jo 
siah  talked  to  me — you  know  he  was  ever  my  own  boy  — 
at  that  time,  and  he  said  when  he  and  his  Molly  got 
wed,  't  would  be  his  wish  and  will  and  her  pleasure  to 
come  home  to  us,  and  be  the  stay  of  our  old  age,  and 
so  't  was  settled  ;  but  then  my  poor  maid  took  sick,  and 


CANARY  WINE  AND  SEED-CAKE.  367 

there  was  no  thought  of  aught  but  her  in  the  house,  and 
when  she  was  gone,  Josiah,  who  loved  her  tenderly,  said 
not  a  word  until  the  year  came  round  and  more,  and 
then,  man  fashion,  he  spoke  out  more  honestly  than 
shrewdly  to  his  father  and  me  together,  and  said  't  was 
time  now  that  he  was  wed,  and  he  would  fain  bring  his 
wife  to  us  to  fill  the  place  of  her  that  was  gone.  May 
hap  't  was  just  the  word  '  fill  the  place  '  that  angered 
Lora's  father ;  perhaps  he  forgot  that  he  was  young 
himself  once,  and  that  God  lightens  the  burdens  that 
he  lays  upon  young  hearts  lest  they  should  be  broken 
before  they  're  used,  while  to  us  that  have  well-nigh 
done  our  work  he  lets  grief  crush  out  this  world's  life 
that  we  may  be  ready  for  the  next.  But,  however  that 
may  be,  the  captain  took  mortal  offense  at  the  thought 
of  any  young  woman  filling  Lora's  place  at  the  hearth 
or  in  the  love  of  those  who  mourned  her  and  should 
ever  mourn  her,  and  he  said  things  that  no  temper  but 
one  so  sweet  as  my  Josiah's  could  have  brooked.  If  it 
had  been  Myles,  he  would  have  broke  out  at  his  father 
and  given  as  good  as  he  got,  and  when  o'  stormy  nights 
I  think  of  my  poor  sailor  lad  at  sea,  I  comfort  myself 
with  the  thought  that  he  's  safe  from  breaking  the  fifth 
commandment.  But  there,  't  is  not  of  son  Myles  I  'm 
speaking,  but  of  poor  Josiah." 

"  And  he  took  his  father 's  rating  in  brave  patience 
as  he  ever  does,  —  so  Alick  says,"  said  Alick's  mother- 
in-law. 

"  Yes.  Then  Alick  has  told  you  of  our  trouble  ?  " 
demanded  Barbara  almost  jealously,  but  Priscilla  has 
tened  to  reply,  — 

"  Oh,  no.  Only  he  loves  to  magnify  his  brother,  who 
is  more  than  dear  to  him.  But  go  on,  Bab,  with  youv 
story." 


368  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  Well,  dear,  I  tried  to  talk  with  the  captain  when 
we  were  alone,  but  the  wound  was  too  deep  and  too 
angry  to  bear  much  handling,  and  so  I  e'en  left  it  to 
nature  and  to  grace.  But  at  the  end  he  consented  that 
Josiali  should  marry,  and  he  would  talk  with  John  Ding- 
ley  about  setting  up  the  young  folks,  and  he  promised 
never  to  say  another  bitter  word  to  Josiah  about  it ;  but 
on  the  other  hand  he  would  not  go  to  the  marriage,  and 
he  bade  me  tell  the  poor  lad  that  he  was  not  to  bring  his 
lass  to  the  house  either  before  or  after  they  were  mar 
ried,  for  no,  not  for  one  half  hour  should  Lora's  place 
be  filled,  nor  should  any  woman  call  him  father  so  long 
as  he  lived." 

"  He  bade  Alick  tell  Sally  as  much  as  that,  and  she 
has  n't  been  anigh  your  house  since,"  interposed  Sally's 
mother  indignantly ;  but  Barbara  raised  her  shadowy 
blue  eyes  so  piteously,  and  looked  so  imploringly  into 
her  friend's  face,  that  a  misty  softness  suddenly  filled 
Priscilla's  own  eyes,  and  petting  the  other's  hand  she 
said,  — 

"  There,  there,  gossip,  't  is  all  right !     Go  on,  go  on. " 

And  Barbara,  smiling  faintly  as  one  well  used  to  con 
trol  her  own  feelings,  and  to  make  allowance  for  the 
impetuosity  of  others,  went  on :  "  So  I  told  Josiah,  and 
he  told  Mary,  and  she  her  father  and  mother,  and  not 
one  of  them  would  hearken  to  any  marriage  so  shadowed, 
nor*  could  I  blame  them.  All  that  was  a  year  ago,  and 
Josiah  has  been  as  good  a  son  as  ever  man  could  ask 
ever  since ;  but  a  week  apast  or  so,  he  spoke  to  me,  and 
said  his  youth  was  going,  and  Mary  was  of  full  age,  and 
't  was  not  right  that  he  should  ask  her  to  wait  in  her 
father's  house  till  her  younger  sisters  were  married  over 
her  head,  and  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  Connec- 


CANARY   WINE  AND  SEED-CAKE.  369 

ticut  and  make  a  home  whereto  he  might  carry  his  wife. 
John  Haward  could  manage  the  farm,  and  Hobomok 
the  fishing  and  boats,  and  perhaps  his  brother  Myles 
after  this  voyage  would  settle  down  awhile  at  home. 
Oh,  Priscilla,  when  I  heard  that  word  I  felt  as  if  the  end 
had  come,  and  I  must  e'en  lay  down  under  the  burthen 
that  I  could  not  carry.  Alick  gone,  and  Myles  gone, 
and  my  one  sweet  maid  gone,  and  my  two  dear  little 
fellows  left  over  on  Burying  Hill  at  Plymouth,  and  now 
Josiah,  the  one  whom,  God  forgive  me,  I  haply  loved 
the  best"  — 

"  No,  no,  it  sha'n't  be,  it  can't  be,"  interrupted  Pris 
cilla  impulsively.  "  Myles  shall  listen  to  reason  ;  he  shall 
see  that  what  he  calls  grief  has  grown  into  cruel  selfish 
ness.  1 11  tell  him  so ;  I  '11  talk  to  him  " 

"  'T  was  what  I  came  to  ask  of  you,  dear  Pris !  Well 
do  I  know,  that  from  the  days  before  I  came  until  now, 
Myles  has  held  you  in  singular  tenderness,  and  you  may 
say  to  him  things  that  no  one  else  dare,  and  that  I  will 
not  say  lest  he  mistake  it  for  chiding,  or  for  want  of  love, 
or  —  well,  now,  how  can  I  say  it,  Priscilla,  but  you  know 
as  well  as  I,  that  when  a  woman  has  once  made  her 
husband  ashamed  of  himself,  she  has  lost  what  she  never 
will  recover  in  his  eyes.  Our  masters  love  not  to  be  mas 
tered  by  a  woman,  and  she  the  one  sworn  to  obedience." 

"  And  so  you  'd  put  me  in  that  place  and  make  sure 
that  hereafter  Myles  shall  not  love  me  too  well !  "  ex 
claimed  Priscilla  petulantly,  and  in  the  same  breath 
added,  "  No,  no,  that  was  but  a  peevish  jest,  and  you 
know  it,  Bab.  Wait,  now,  till  I  take  counsel  with  my 
self,  for  there  's  a  thought  lurking  somewhere  in  the  back 
of  my  head  that  I  'd  fain  catch  and  look  in  's  face  before 
I  say  more." 


370  BETTY  ALDEN. 

And  jumping  up,  Priscilla  went  to  a  cupboard,  and 
taking  out  a  decanter  of  canary  wine  and  a  loaf  of  seed 
cake,  placed  them  before  her  guest  with  a  napkin  and  a 
sheath-knife.  Then,  lifting  a  forefinger  to  silence  Bar 
bara's  acknowledgments,  she  went  to  the  open  door,  and 
stood  plucking  some  withered  leaves  and  faded  flowers 
from  the  white  rosebush  with  automatic  tidiness,  but 
with  a  mind  altogether  unconscious  of  the  body's  occu 
pation. 

A  few  moments  of  summer  silence  followed,  that  liv 
ing  silence  of  summer  so  different  from  the  deadly 
silence  of  winter,  and  then,  suddenly  flinging  her  hand 
ful  of  leaves  and  roses  upon  the  ground,  Priscilla  turned, 
and  coming  back  into  the  room  cried  triumphantly,  "  I 
have  it  now,  Barbara !  'T  is  Betty !  " 

"  Betty !  "  echoed  Barbara  dropping  the  morsel  of 
cake  from  between  her  fingers.  "  What  about  Betty  ?  " 

"  She  's  the  one  to  speak  to  Myles  about  Josiah  and 
Mary  Dingley." 

"  Betty !  " 

"  Yes,  Betty.  See  here,  now,  woman ;  't  is  n't  that 
I  'm  af eard  of  Myles,  —  the  dear  knows  that  I  never  yet 
quailed  before  the  face  of  man ;  but,  Bab,  you  've  hit 
on  one  sad  truth  about  our  masters,  and  I  '11  give  you 
another.  They  ill  brook  to  be  taught  by  their  wives,  say 
you,  and  I  will  add,  they  still  love  a  fair  young  face  bet 
ter  than  one  whereon  they  've  watched  the  wrinkles  come 
and  the  bloom  fade  out.  Some  thirty  years  ago  I  was  a 
comely  lass  enough,  and  our  gallant  captain  thought  me 
so ;  but  he  's  seen  rne  at  least  five  times  a  sennight  ever 
since,  and  I  could  tell  you  well-nigh  the  day  he  stared 
long  and  shrewdly  in  my  face  and  said  in  his  heart, 
*  She  's  lost  her  comeliness '  "  — 


CANARY  WINE  AND  SEED-CAKE.  371 

"  Nay,  nay,  Pris,  he  's  said  more  than  once  that  Sally 's 
not  a  patch  upon  her  mother." 

"Upon  what  her  mother  was  once,  was  what  he 
meant,  gossip,  no  matter  what  he  said.  Oh,  don't  tell 
me,  Bab  !  If  I  know  naught  else  in  this  world,  I  know 
Priscilla  Alden,  and  I  can  spell  out  a  page  or  so  of 
Myles  Standish.  But  pass  all  that,  and  come  to  Betty. 

"  It 's  not  only  that  she  's  far  comelier  than  ever  her 
mother  was,  but  she  's  fresh  and  new  in  her  matronhood ; 
as  a  maid  she  held  her  tongue  before  her  elders  as  a 
maid  should  do,  and  I  '11  lay  you  a  pretty  penny  that  the 
captain  don't  guess  she  has  a  tongue,  and  a  headpiece 
to  keep  it  in,  that  '11  match  any  man  in  the  colony,  if 
once  she  starts  out.  Now  what  I  say  is,  that  she  shall 
go  in  boldly,  as  Esther  did  to  Ahasuerus,  and  speak  her 
mind,  and  as  Esther  said,  If  she  die,  she  dies.  Thank 
goodness,  the  captain  can't  kill  her  outright,  and  she  can 
stand  a  strange  word  or  two  in  Dutch  better  than  poor 
Parson  Partridge  did." 

"Well,  'tis  an  idea  to  think  on,"  replied  Barbara 
slowly,  and  Priscilla,  knowing  that  the  matter  was  set 
tled,  smiled  the  smile  of  a  contented  diplomat,  and 
brushing  the  cake  crumbs  into  the  napkin,  shook  them 
out  of  the  door  before  she  quietly  clenched  the  matter 
by  saying,  — 

"  I  'm  going  over  to  Betty's  in  the  morning,  and  I  '11 
speak  to  her." 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

BETTY    BEARDS    THE    LION. 

IT  was  perhaps  a  week  later,  but  as  fair  and  peaceful 
a  summer  evening  as  that  when  Priscilla  Alden  showed 
herself  more  worldly-wise  than  vain,  that  Myles  Stan- 
dish,  according  to  his  constant  custom,  climbed  the  Cap 
tain's  Hilt  to  sit  upon  the  sunset  seat,  and  with  sad 
eyes  fixed  upon  the  horizon  line  to  muse  in  lonely  bit 
terness  upon  the  sorrow  he  endured  but  did  not  accept. 
Half  an  hour  of  solitude  no  more  than  sufficed  to  deaden 
the  physical  pain,  aggravated  by  the  steep  climb,  against 
which  the  soldier  in  his  latter  years  fought  in  the  grim 
silence  of  hopelessness,  and  with  a  long  breath  of  relief 
he  leaned  back  against  one  of  the  trees  supporting  the 
seat  and  wiped  his  forehead.  The  sound  of  a  light  foot 
step,  the  rustle  of  a  woman's  dress,  disturbed  him,  and 
with  a  sudden  flush  of  emotion  he  turned,  half  fancying 
that  Lora  herself  had  come  to  meet  him  at  her  favorite 
tryst. 

But  instead  of  the  fair  pale  face,  the  golden  hair,  and 
spiritual  blue  eyes  of  his  daughter,  it  was  the  joyous  and 
brilliant  face  of  Betty  Alden,  or  as  we  now  must  learn 
to  call  her,  Bettie  Pabodie,  subdued  indeed  by  tenderest 
sympathy,  but  rich  in  color,  in  light,  in  abounding  health, 
that  met  his  gaze,  and  with  a  peevish  exclamation  he 
turned  away,  fixing  his  eyes  again  upon  the  water. 

"  May  n't  I  come  and  sit  with  you  a  little  minute, 


BETTY  BEARDS  THE  LION.  373 

Captain  ?  "  asked  Betty,  seeing  and  hearing  all,  but  no 
ticing  nothing,  and  without  waiting  for  reply  she  sank 
down  upon  the  other  end  of  the  bench,  and  for  some  min 
utes  remained  quite  silent ;  then  she  said  very  softly,  — 

"  I  came  here  to  find  you,  sir,  for  it  seemed  to  me  the 
fittest  place." 

"  For  what  ?  "  asked  the  father  hoarsely,  as  his  un 
welcome  companion  paused. 

"  To  speak  of  one  I  loved  more  than  ever  I  loved 
mine  own  sisters."  And  the  round  firm  voice  grew  very 
sweetly  tender  and  tremulous,  for  it  spoke  no  more  than 
the  truth. 

"  I  cannot  talk  of  her  —  I  know  you  loved  her,  and 
she  you  —  but  "  — 

Again  there  was  silence,  for  the  great  heart  bled  in 
wardly  and  made  no  sign.  At  last  the  girl  ventured 
again  :  — 

"  Oh,  forgive  me,  sir,  if  I  seem  to  fail  of  respect  to 
your  wish,  or  of  tenderness  to  your  exceeding  sorrow, 
but  there  's  something  she  fain  would  have  you  know. 
God  forgive  me  if  I  profanely  touch  his  mysteries,  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  she  who  has  gone  straight  to  his  pres 
ence  has  been  sent  to  bring  to  mind  words  she  spoke 
and  I  never  yet  have  dared  repeat.  Will  you  say  nay 
to  her  wish,  dear  and  honored  friend  ?  " 

"  Words  she  said  ? "  echoed  the  father,  and,  uncov 
ering  his  face,  he  turned  and  fixed  upon  Betty  such  stern 
demanding  eyes,  that  even  her  high  courage  almost 
quailed  ;  but  though  her  lips  turned  pale,  she  steadfastly 
replied,  — 

"  Yes,  words  she  said  in  the  night  before  she  went. 
Only  I  heard  them." 

"  And  God,"  suggested  the  captain  as  severely  as  if 
he  were  administering  an  oath. 


374  BETTY  ALDEN. 

"  And  God  who  hears  me  now,"  replied  Betty,  her 
eyes  meeting  his  so  bravely  and  so  truthfully  that  his 
own  softened  as  he  said,  — 

"  I  marvel  that  you  feared  to  tell  me  anything  I 
ought  to  know." 

"  I  did  not  exactly  fear,  sir,  but  I  knew 't  would  be 
unwelcome,  and  mayhap  too  soon  to  do  good." 

"  Well.  Leave  skirmishing,  and  come  out  boldly  with 
whatever  it  may  be.  I  '11  listen,  at  least." 

And  folding  his  arms  and  setting  his  lips,  the  soldier 
faced  her  with  just  the  mien  he  would  have  worn  in 
submitting  to  an  amputation  upon  the  field  of  battle. 
An  answering  courage  lighted  the  face  of  the  young 
woman,  and  although  Standish  did  not  then  consciously 
notice  how  beautiful  she  was,  doubtless  that  beauty  made 
itself  felt. 

But  brave  as  she  was,  Betty  could  not  steadily  endure 
the  sombre  flame  of  eyes  that  seemed  to  pierce  the  very 
core  of  her  heart,  and  her  own  gaze,  after  a  little  wan 
dering,  fixed  upon  the  thatched  roof-tree  in  the  plain 
below,  where  her  baby  girl  lay  asleep  in  its  cradle,  and 
her  voice  was  calm  and  steady  as  she  made  reply. 

"  It  was  in  the  last  night  that  our  dear  Lora  was  with 
us,  and  you  had  just  gone  somewhat  hastily  out  of  the 
room  and  out  of  the  house  "  — 

"Ay." 

"  And  Lora  looked  after  you  a  moment  while  her  lips 
moved  in  prayer.  Then  she  turned  to  me  and  said,  — 

"  '  Dear  father  !  He  '11  miss  me  sore,  and  he  '11  grieve 
out  of  measure  that  he  denied  me  my  love,'  "  — 

A  bitter,  bitter  groan  burst  from  the  father's  lips, 
and  he  buried  his  face  in  his  hands  for  a  moment,  but 
uttered  no  word.  Betty  paused  for  a  moment,  and 
went  on  more  softly,  — 


BETTY  BEARDS  THE  LION.  375 

"  *  But  tell  him  when  he  can  bear  it,'  said  she,  *  that 
it  made  no  difference  and  it  did  no  harm.  Before  ever 
Wrestling  spoke  to  me  I  had  heard  one  say  to  my  soul, 
The  Master  hath  come  and  calleth  for  thee  !  and  I  have 
long  been  ready,  ay,  and  fain  to  go.'  " 

"  Said  she  so  !  Said  my  maid  so  !  '  Ready,  ay, 
and  fain  to  go  '  ?  " 

"  They  are  her  very  words,  her  very,  very  words." 

"  I  can  believe  it ;  I  can  believe  my  own  lass  would 
find  some  way  to  comfort  me,  even  from  the  grave 
where  she  is  laid." 

"  Nay,  dear  sir,  from  the  heaven  whither  she  has  gone 
to  live  forever." 

"  I  can  believe  that,  too,  from  your  lips,  child,  for  you 
come  to  me  as  an  angel.  More,  tell  me  more." 

"  I  cannot  tell  all  her  words  after  those,  for  she  grew 
faint  and  weak,  and  much  was  lost,  but  I  gathered  that 
her  mind  dwelt  much  upon  some  story  Gillian  Brewster 
had  told  her  of  a  far  away  foreign  convent,  and  she  spoke 
of  the  leaves  of  a  great  tree  that  ever  waved  across 
an  open  door,  and  brought  cool  breezes  to  her  head. 
I  believe  she  wandered  a  little  in  her  mind,  and  then 
she  grew  very  still,  and  after  a  while  she  opened  her 
eyes  and  smiled  up  into  mine  the  while  she  whispered, 
'  T  is  Mary  and  not  Sally  that  will  comfort  him  best. 
She  '11  be  a  daughter  to  him  in  a  place  next  to  mine. 
Tell  him  so.'  Then  she  shut  her  eyes  again,  and  we 
spoke  no  more  alone." 

"  And  it  is  all  true  truth  ?  " 

"  All  God's  truth,  sir.  Oh,  do  you  think  I  could  say 
otherwise  ?  " 

"  No.  I  know  you  could  not.  Wait."  And  with 
his  head  bowed  upon  his  breast  the  captain  took  counsel 


376  BETTY  ALDEN. 

with  himself  for  many  minutes.  At  last  he  looked  at 
Betty,  whose  bright  face  now  was  pale  with  exhaustion, 
and  said  almost  harshly,  — 

"  I  knew  not  that  she  cared  overmuch  for  Mary 
Dingley ;  they  were  little  enough  alike." 

"  No  ;  but  don't  you  see,  sir,"  replied  Betty  with  a 
sort  of  sweet  impatience,  "  that  it  was  not  her  own 
likings  or  her  own  pleasure  she  was  thinking  of,  but  of 
you  and  your  happiness  ?  Even  if  she  had  misliked 
Mary  and  knew  she  would  be  a  good  daughter  to  you, 
she  would  have  said  the  same." 

"  Yes,  yes,  you  're  right,  girl,  you  're  right,  and  I  'm 
but  a  poor,  blind,  selfish  old  man.  She  'd  have  me  think 
of  others  more  than  of  myself.  The  mother  getting 
old  and  no  daughter  to  help  her,  no  little  children  to 
cheer  her,  —  yes,  I  see,  my  maid,  I  see,  and  I  '11  do  your 
bidding  —  if  lean." 

"  Oh,  no,  sir,  not  my  bidding  "  — 

"  I  know,  I  know,  lass,  and  for  all  thy  high  spirit 
thou  wert  ever  maiden  meek  and  mild  to  thine  elders. 
But  it  was  not  to  thee  I  spoke  just  then.  Yet  now  I  will 
have  thee  to  advise  with  me,  for,  truth  to  tell,  I  am  a 
little  fogged  arid  stunned  with  all  these  matters,  and 
since  my  sweet  maid  left  me  I  've  grown  old  and  dod 
dering  —  no,  never  mind  naysaying  me,  I  know  what  I 
know.  What  I  will  have  thee  tell  me,  Betty,  is  this. 
Shall  I  —  would  Lora  have  me  bid  Josiah  bring  his 
wife  home  —  and  let  her  sit  in  —  Oh,  my  God  !  I  can 
not,  I  cannot  "  — 

He  covered  his  face  again,  and  for  some  moments 
Betty  sat  in  respectful  silence,  then,  moving  nearer,  laid 
a  light  touch  upon  the  shoulder  heaving  under  its  mighty 
struggle  for  self-control. 


BETTY  BEARDS  THE  LION.  377 

"  Not  in  Lora's  place,  clear  sir,"  said  she  softly.  "  No 
one  can  take  that  e'en  if  she  would,  and  Mary  Ding- 
ley  would  not  an  she  could.  I  know  her  well,  and  a 
milder,  gentler,  sweeter  maid  no  longer  lives  on  earth. 
She  is  one  who  will  ever  bear  your  grief  in  mind,  yet 
never  speak  of  it ;  one  who  will  give  you  a  daughter's 
duty  and  tendance,  yet  never  press  for  a  daughter's  free 
dom  ;  one  who  will  love  you  as  much  as  you  will  let 
her,  yet  never  be  nettled  at  thought  you  do  not  love  her 
as  you  might.  She  is  as  fond  of  Josiah  as  woman  can 
be  of  man,  yet  modest  and  meek  and  shamefast  as  a 
maid  should  ever  be.  Oh,  sir,  she  is  a  girl  among  a 
thousand,  I  do  assure  you,  and  if  you  will  open  house 
and  heart  to  her  you  shall  never,  never  repent  of  it." 

"  The  maid  must  be  worth  something  who  can  claim 
so  leal  a  friend  in  you,  Betty  Alden." 

And  across  that  worn  and  haggard  face  gleamed  a 
smile  such  as  had  not  been  seen  there  since  Lora  died. 
The  certainty  of  success  shot  like  a  sharp  pain  through 
Betty's  heart,  and  for  a  moment  broke  down  the  courage 
which  failure  would  only  have  stimulated.  Turning 
suddenly  away,  and  leaning  her  head  against  a  tree- 
trunk,  she  drew  a  long,  gasping  breath  and  burst  into 
tears. 

Was  not  Priscilla's  intuition  justified,  and  her  theory 
proven  ?  Had  it  been  she  herself,  or  any  woman  of  her 
age  and  strong  character,  she  would  have  learned  self- 
control  and  so  lost  her  best  weapon ;  or  if  she  had  fal 
len  into  tears,  the  man  would  have  simply  felt  that 
the  weakness  of  age  had  overtaken  her,  and  would  have 
doubted  the  soundness  of  her  advice.  But  when  sweet- 
and-twenty  weeps  honestly  and  fervidly,  and  from  a 
loving,  honest  heart,  no  man  between  thirty  and  seventy 


378  BETTY  ALDEN. 

looks  unmoved  upon  those  tears  ;  nor  did  Myles  Stan- 
dish,  as  hastily  rising  he  hovered  over  the  girl,  not 
touching  her,  for  no  Spaniard  ever  treated  his  Infanta 
with  more  respect  than  this  true  gentleman  showed  to 
every  woman,  but  pulling  out  a  great  handkerchief  and 
making  little  futile  efforts  to  apply  it,  while  he  incoher 
ently  exclaimed  in  almost  the  voice  he  might  have  used 
to  Lora,  — 

"  Why,  there  now,  there,  dear  heart,  —  nay,  child,  for 
pity's  sake  —  why,  my  little  lass,  don't  'ee  take  on  so. 
Nay,  what  shall  I  say  to  pleasure  thee  ?  Come,  now, 
Betty,  come,  now,  dry  up  thine  eyes  like  a  good  girl, 
and  I  '11  give  thee  —  what  shall  I  give  thee  ?  If  thou 
wert  mine  own  lass  I  'd  give  thee  a  kiss  "  — 

"  And  I  '11  give  you  one  as  it  is,  sir,"  cried  Betty, 
and  turning  like  a  flash,  she  threw  her  arms  around  the 
old  man's  neck  and  pressed  upon  his  cheek  two  lips  so 
soft,  so  warm,  so  sweet,  that  a  streak  of  dark  red 
mounted  to  his  temples,  and  taking  the  girl's  head  be- 
tween  his  hands  he  kissed  her  forehead  with  a  strange 
stir  of  reverent  tenderness  at  his  heart. 

"  Betty,  my  lass,  thou  'st  done  a  good  work  to-day," 
said  he  simply,  and  she,  with  a  smile  and  a  sob  strug 
gling  for  preeminence,  murmured,  — 

"  Thank  God  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


"  MARY  STANDISH,  MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER-IN-LAW." 

THE  lime-trees  have  shed  not  only  flowers  but  fruit, 
and  the  bees  are  adding  to  their  clover  and  clethra 
honey  a  last  deposit  from  latest  hollyhocks  and  golden- 
rod.  The  apples  lie  in  fragrant  piles  beneath  the  or 
chard  trees,  or  in  a  less  worthy  heap  beside  the  cider 
mill ;  the  maize  and  the  pumpkins  gleam  in  merry  gold, 
exulting  over  the  withered  foliage  that  in  their  non-age 
flaunted  above  their  heads  ;  the  barns  are  bursting,  and 
the  cattle  sleek  with  plenteous  corn ;  it  is  the  jocund 
time  of  year  when  Mother  Earth  spreads  an  abundant 
board,  and  calls  her  children  to  eat  and  give  thanks  to 
their  Creator  and  hers. 

The  waters  of  Duxbury  Bay,  placid  and  gleaming 
with  the  hazy  sunlight  of  the  Indian  summer,  reflect  the 
sails  of  a  dozen  or  more  boats  lazily  gliding  in  from 
Plymouth,  from  Marshfield,  from  Scituate,  and  even 
from  Barnstable  and  Sandwich,  for  the  children  of  the 
Pilgrims  have  not  yet  outgrown  the  family  love  and  in 
terest  that  bound  their  fathers  in  so  close  a  tie,  and  the 
Robinsons,  children  of  the  good  pastor  who  so  loved  and 
so  cruelly  misjudged  our  captain,  have  come  from  the 
Cape  to  the  wedding  of  his  son,  bringing  with  them  little 
Marcy,  to  whom  Standish  left  "  £3  to  her  whom  I  ten 
derly  love  for  her  grandfather's  sake." 

Yes,  this  is  the  wedding  day  of  Josiah  Standish  and 


380  BETTY  ALLEN. 

Mary  Dingley,  whose  parents  have  generously  consented 
to  bring  their  daughter  to  Duxbury  and  let  the  marriage 
take  place  in  her  future  home,  as  the  captain  has  re 
quested  ;  and  now  that  he  has  given  his  consent,  the  old 
man  gives  his  heart  to  the  plan,  and  sends  his  own  boat 
with  John  Haward  or  Hobomok  laden  with  invitations 
to  the  old  friends  whom  in  these  latter  days  he  has 
almost  churlishly  avoided. 

"  Our  maid  would  have  us  show  true  and  hearty  wel 
come  to  the  new  sister,"  he  says  rather  wistfully  to 
Betty,  upon  whom  he  leans  pathetically  for  companion 
ship  and  appreciation,  and  she  confidently  replies,  "  Yes, 
indeed,  she  would  have  it  so." 

"The  governor's  boat  is  coming  in,  father,"  an 
nounces  Josiah,  his  honest  face  aglow  with  love  and 
pride,  and  the  captain  rather  heavily  descends  the  path, 
and  as  the  boat  grazes  the  wharf  extends  his  hand  to 
the  stately  white-haired  and  benignant  man,  who  grasps 
it  affectionately  and  says,  — 

"  So  here  we  all  are  once  more,  Captain.  'T  is  a 
great  compliment  these  young  folk  pay  me,  when  so 
many  other  magistrates  are  nigh  hand  to  them." 

"  So  many,  ay,"  replies  the  captain  heartily.  "  But 
shake  us  all  up  in  a  bag,  and  we  '11  not  make  one  of 
Will  Bradford,  let  alone  that  you  're  governor  of  the 
Colony  and  my  boy  's  so  cock-a-hoop  that  no  less  than 
the  governor  will  serve  his  turn." 

"  Says  your  father  sooth,  Josiah  ?  "  demands  Brad 
ford,  turning  to  give  his  hand  to  the  bridegroom,  who 
presents  himself  with  bashful  manliness,  or  if  you  please 
with  manly  bashfulness,  to  welcome  his  father's  guests 
and  receive  their  jocose  congratulations. 

"  And  now  to  business,  that  we  may  the  sooner  come 


MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.  381 

to  pleasure,  for  I  shrewdly  guess  the  housewife  hath  a 
crust  and  a  cup  ready  for  us  somewhere,  and  so  soon  as 
we  've  settled  these  two  young  folk,  we  '11  look  for  our 
reward." 

So  cried  the  captain,  striving  piteously  after  his  old 
jocular  air,  as  he  led  the  way  up  the  hill  to  the  house, 
which,  with  doors  standing  hospitably  open,  white  cur 
tains  waving  from  swinging  casements,  and  groups  of 
smiling  matrons  and  maids  standing  around,  presented  a 
very  festive  appearance. 

"  You  have  added  to  your  house  since  I  was  here, 
Captain,"  remarked  Bradford,  pausing  at  the  top  of  the 
bluff  to  regard  the  scene  before  him. 

"  Yes.  We  had  to  make  room  for  the  young  couple, 
and  while  we  were  about  it,  I  pleased  myself  with  shap 
ing  a  sort  of  fortalice  that 's  long  been  in  my  mind,  and 
the  rather  that  I  forebode  trouble  with  the  Indians  be 
fore  many  years.  Hobomok  is  uneasy,  and  if  the  Dutch 
hanker  too  greedily  for  our  roasted  chestnuts  they  '11  like 
enough  thrust  in  a  red  man's  paw  to  scratch  them  out." 

"  Why,  what  hath  Hobomok  learned  ?  We  should 
know  as  soon  as  you,  Captain." 

"  Oh,  there  's  no  cut-and-dried  story  to  tell,  or  I  would 
surely  have  carried  it  to  you,  and  as  it  is,  I  shall  offer 
some  good  advice  to  you  at  Plymouth;  but  one  thing 
at  a  time,  Will,  and  to-night  we  're  at  a  wedding  and  not 
at  a  council.  Think  you  not  't  is  a  pretty  notion  of  a 
fortified  cottage  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes  "  —  began  the  governor,  but  the  soldier 
eagerly  interrupted  him,  pointing  out,  with  the  profes 
sional  pride  of  an  engineer,  how  the  two  parallelograms 
of  the  building,  so  placed  as  to  form  two  sides  of  an  ir 
regular  triangle,  inclosed  a  court  or  corral  closed  on  the 


382  BETTY  ALDEN. 

third  side  by  a  high  stockade.  Into  this  the  livestock 
could  be  driven,  and  the  farm  utensils  and  other  out 
door  property  secured,  at  very  brief  notice,  while  port 
holes,  cunningly  masked,  commanded  not  only  the  ap 
proach  to  this  corral,  but  to  the  only  outside  door  of  the 
house,  placed  at  the  junction  of  the  two  parallelograms, 
one  of  which  slightly  overlapped  the  other.  Three  sub 
stantial  chimneys,  two  in  the  southern  and  one  in  the 
northern  wing  of  the  house,  promised  domestic  comfort 
amid  all  this  warlike  defense,  and  beneath  the  white- 
curtained  casements  cottage  flowers  bravely  bloomed, 
and  tossed  their  heads  in  saucy  security. 

"  We  keep  the  southern  front  for  ourselves,"  re 
marked  Myles  with  his  grim  smile.  "  Old  folks  need  the 
sun  to  warm  their  sluggish  blood,  but  these  youngsters 
can  make  their  own  summer,  for  a  while  at  least." 

"  Nay,  you  Ve  lent  them  some  sunshine  at  the  east 
end  of  their  wing,  and  well  do  I  hope  they  '11  lend 
you  some  of  the  summer  of  their  joy,  Myles."  So  spoke 
the  governor,  looking  shrewdly  into  the  face  of  his  old 
friend ;  but  he,  avoiding  the  glance,  slightly  shrugged 
his  shoulders,  muttering,  — 

"  He  who  lives  will  see,"  and  led  the  way  into  the 
house. 

The  brief  and  bald  civil  service  soon  was  said,  the 
hearty  salutes  bestowed,  and  the  sturdy  handshaking 
over ;  then  Governor  Bradford,  with  an  air  at  once  pa 
ternal  and  courtly,  led  the  bride  to  the  head  of  the  prin 
cipal  table,  and  the  feast,  upon  which  the  skill  of  a  select 
committee  of  our  old  friends  had  expended  itself ,  began. 
But  too  many  feasts  have  been  described,  and  I  dare  not 
tell  of  the  glories  of  this,  save  only  of  the  great  wed 
ding-cake,  with  its  choice  frostwork  of  flowers  and  foli- 


MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.  383 

age,  shaped  by  Betty  Pabodie's  nimble  fingers,  —  a  cake 
to  be  carved  with  much  ceremony,  and  amid  much  mirth 
and  jubilation,  by  the  bride's  own  hand,  with  the  gold 
ring  hidden  somewhere  amid  its  sweets  for  the  next 
bride,  and  the  toy  half  of  a  scissors  for  the  man  doomed 
to  be  an  old  bachelor. 

But  at  last  all  was  over ;  the  hunter's  moon,  whose 
culmination  had  fixed  the  date  of  the  wedding,  hung 
glorious  in  heaven,  shedding  almost  the  light  of  day ;  -the 
neighbors'  horses  were  saddled  and  pillioned,  and  the 
boats  of  those  who  came  from  farther  afield  were  manned 
and  ready ;  Alice  Bradford,  muffling  herself  in  cloak 
and  hood  for  the  voyage,  was  changing  a  last  word  with 
Priscilla  and  Barbara,  while  sweet  Alice  Richards,  her 
daughter-in-law,  was  deep  in  baby  lore  with  Betty  Pa- 
bodie,  and  the  governor  and  the  captain  outside  the  door 
were  by  chance  left  for  a  moment  quite  alone.  Turning 
by  a  common  impulse  —  one  of  those  impulses  we  all 
have  felt  compelling  us  to  undreamed-of  action,  —  they 
faced  each  other  and  grasped  hands. 

"  I  'm  glad  you  came,  Will,"  said  the  captain. 

"  Ay,  and  so  am  I.  'T  is  many  a  year  since  first  we 
clasped  hands  in  old  Amsterdam,  Myles." 

"  More  years  than  there  are  months  between  this  and 
our  last  hand  clasp,  friend." 

"  God  knows  —  God  alone  knows." 

"  Mind  you  of  that  other  moonlight  night,  Will,  when 
you  and  I  stood  by  my  girl's  new-made  grave,  and  you 
moved  me  to  bury  my  revenge  with  her  ?  " 

"  I  Ve  thought  of  it  more  than  once  to-night,  more 
than  once." 

"  He 's  dead." 

"  What,  your  cousin  ?  " 


384  BETTY  ALLEN. 

"  Yes.  The  man  that  slighted  my  maid.  He  's  dead 
and  buried." 

"  And  revenge  of  thought  as  well  as  deed  is  buried 
with  him,  Myles,  is  it  not  ?  " 

"  H — m  !  Now,  that 's  a  fight  where  I  'm  willing 
to  cry  crav6n.  See  you  here,  "Will,  the  Lord  that  made 
me  fashioned  me  out  of  mere  mortal  clay,  and  his  work 
stands  fast  in  spite  of  my  good  will  or  yours  to  change 
it.  While  I  was  a  young  fellow,  I  fought  the  Spaniards 
and  the  Turks  ;  in  my  lustyhood,  I  fought  the  Indians 
and  the  wilderness  ;  and  now,  in  mine  age,  I  fight  Myles 
Stan  dish  and  the  devil ;  and  though  I  've  as  good  a  stom 
ach  for  hard  knocks  as  most  men,  I  feel  betimes  't  will 
not  be  a  sorry  thing  to  undo  harness,  hang  up  Gideon, 
and  lay  me  down  to  rest  and  sleep." 

"  Not  yet,  old  friend,  not  yet !  We  came  on  pilgrim 
age  together,  and  we  '11  march  shoulder  to  shoulder  into 
the  holy  city,  —  that  is,  if  God  will." 

"  If  God  will,"  echoed  Standish,  and  as  the  merry 
throng  poured  out,  they  found  the  elders  standing  hand 
in  hand  and  face  to  face,  with  the  moonlight  gleaming 
softly  over  them  and  glistening  in  their  eyes. 


GENERAL  LIBBflRY-U.C.  BERKELEY 


M115403 


<?S5 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


